Fifth Day: Wounded
I finally finished up to 13 chapters (the last chapter that was finished is chapter 8), so I'll start posting them. Written in 2014.
Deidara's stare was unimpressed as he gazed up at the sign on top of the brick building. The moss on the red stones had grown, and in some cases, actually changed color. He remembered that the spot to the upper left was an apple green hue, but now it matured to a healthy hunter green. He almost felt a spot of pride for the tiny piece of vegetation.
Ignoring the strong urge to reminisce, Deidara walked up the steps and opened the glass door, following the signs put up by the students who went to the high school.
It was a Saturday, and Konoha High was having it's annual blood drive, sponsored by the local blood bank. Deidara remembered very well about setting up for the event years back, helping and talking to his peers as they got their blood drawn, while a few even tweeted about it as it was happening. The employees were nice, although there was always that one creepy guy, and you eventually found the woman who is either extremely agitated, or too over confident and stuck the needle in one too many times.
Deidara grimaced as he heard the sound of high schoolers through the halls. He really, really didn't want to come back to this school, but he had promised his mom that he would donate blood, just so he would get out of going to her knitting circle for the homeless. It wasn't that he didn't like helping his community, it was just… Nope, that was pretty much it.
Once Deidara reached the gymnasium where stations were set up for exams, and stretchers were spread throughout the room, he forced a smile on his face. The high school girl at the desk looked unsure, but seemingly ready to take on the challenge of telling people where to go. Her friend was on her phone, snapping some bubblegum, while their advisor was too invested in reading the labels on a bag of cookies.
"Hi, are you here for the blood drive?"
Deidara was seriously doubting the education system of this town. "Yeah, un. Is there room?" he asked, looking around the gymnasium, most of the cots already full.
"Oh, yes, of course, though the wait is about an hour long," the high schooler said. "Do you have some ID I can see?" Deidara fished his wallet out of his pocket and produced his driver's license to show to the girl. Once she got down his information she handed him a packet. "And have you eaten recently?"
"Hm? Yeah, yeah, I made sure to eat, un." That morning which was approximately five hours prior.
Deidara sat down in some chairs to skim over the pages about what medications had this and that and he doubted he would be able to remember what he took in the past twelve weeks. Deidara ended up eyeing some other people reading as well and saw that most of them were high school students. He seriously hoped he wouldn't be thought of as some eighteen year old.
Deidara skimmed for a minute and gave the packet back to the girl, whose friend gave him the number he would be listening for to start his exam. As he walked over to the row of chairs, Deidara spotted the table where the donors were eating food, red bands around their arms to show their good deed.
Looking away, Deidara huffed but as his eyes slid across the gym when he spotted a man with flaming red hair. It almost made Deidara stop his stride, but he continued to walk, nearly crashing into the folding chairs he was supposed to sit in. A few people looked at him, but he managed to sit down without making a bigger fool of himself.
His eyes stayed fixed on the man.
The man's hair was messy and almost long enough to cover his eyes. His posture and expression told others he didn't want to be messed with and if someone wanted to try, he would show them what a big mistake they had made. They would probably get an earful of scorn.
His eyes were large and brown, but they were narrowed in annoyance or something akin to it. It may have been because his volunteer wasn't staying still and he was unable to stick the needle in the crook of her elbow properly. Even as he scowled he looked hot.
Deidara forgot that there was always the sexy employee wandering around.
After ten minutes, Deidara was finally called and he was asked to verify the information that the students took down and he did his best to sound friendly. The woman working at the station checked over many things with him including blood pressure, hemoglobin, pulse, temperature before deeming him well enough to donate with a smile; one that Deidara thought was a little too flirtatious. This also required a prick to Deidara's finger, but a swift adhesive bandage stopped the flow.
"Now you need to answer these fifty or so questions on the computer and then you can flip the sign to show you're ready."
Deidara nodded and tried not to pick at the bandaid on his middle finger. Once he answered all the questions, he flipped the sign and waited.
Another five minutes passed before another employee came by and flipped the sign before stepping into the room.
Deidara bristled to attention when he saw who it was.
"Hello, I'm Sasori and I will be helping you donate blood today, let's get started," the man said in such a haste that Deidara didn't even get a word in before he was forced to follow the man. It wasn't like he was going to get lost anyway.
Sasori was taller than him, maybe 5'10", but he seemed to have the ferocity of a pissed chihuahua when someone got in his way.
"Please lie down, I will be placing this blood pressure cuff on your arm before we start."
Deidara did so, noticing how uncomfortable the pillow was and how his ponytail dug into his head. When Sasori began wrapping his arm to place the cuff, Deidara decided to be an idiot and began to talk. "So how long have you been doing this?"
Sasori just stared down at him, clearly unamused. "Well I've been working for six hours straight so far, but after this I get my break, so let's try not to mess up, all right?" He raised a cynical brow. He didn't even answer the question.
Deidara nearly frowned. Why did the hot ones have to be so damn grumpy? He nodded and Sasori continued to check his blood pressure before moving to something else Deidara couldn't see. He pulled a pen out of his coat pocket and was writing something on a digital pad before he turned back to Deidara.
He handed Deidara a cushy ball and told him to squeeze. With the manual monitor, Sasori found a vein in Deidara's left arm and asked, "Are you allergic to iodine?"
Deidara shook his head and the next moment, Sasori began slathering the inside of Deidara's elbow with the yellow substance. Deidara watched him work as he got out tubes and a bag hands moving methodically, and realized, unfortunately, that he was still drawn towards Sasori. Well, that was obvious, but damn.
"Shall we?" he asked, checking over the needle.
"You've done this before, right, un?"
Sasori was about to put the needle into his arm and he stared right into Deidara's eyes. "No, I'm doing this out of a textbook," he said as he shoved the needle into Deidara with a little more roughness than necessary.
Once the tube was taped to Deidara's arm, the bag below the bed began to slowly fill with blood. Sasori then told him to squeeze the ball in even pulses to keep the blood flowing. It seemed that Deidara was the last of Sasori's volunteers because the man stayed next to his bed, glaring at nothing in particular. He had his hands in the pockets of his coat and he was fidgeting with something. When he took his hands out, Deidara saw inside his pocket, realizing that it was a pack of cigarettes.
He could already taste the smoke on his tongue and Deidara nearly groaned. He had quit half a year back, but just seeing a pack made him near ravenous.
"You're stressed out, right, un?" Sasori opened his mouth to snap something back, but Deidara beat him to it. "You aren't allowed to smoke on school grounds, but I know a place on the roof where you can get a few in."
Sasori's brown eyes didn't widen from his slitted stare as he checked Deidara's bag. "Almost half way there," He replied instead.
Deidara took that as a yes. Once the bag was full, Sasori worked some other magic with some extra tubes and clamps before pulling the needle out. No sooner, he put a small patch of gauze on the insertion point and wrapped up his arm. Sasori then asked how he was feeling and to get up slowly when he felt ready. Deidara was fine, unlike the boy a few cots down who had a rag on his head while two volunteers tried to assuage him.
After a minute, Deidara stood up and looked back at Sasori. "Shall we, un?"
Sasori told someone, another employee perhaps, that he was leaving on his break and the man just nodded to him before going back to his patient.
On their way out, Sasori grabbed two bottles of water, some nuts, and a can of apple juice. Once they left the gymnasium, Sasori shoved a bottle of water at Deidara, as well as a package of nuts.
"Eat that," he ordered and Deidara just shrugged before opening the water bottle and downing half of it as they walked.
"Up here, un," he said as he led Sasori up some stairs. "This is where the History classes are," he said, trying to hide the fact that he was panting. Maybe he shouldn't have jumped at the chance to be alone with a grumpy, hot, worker.
"Is there any reason you're telling me this?" Sasori asked once they reached the top of the flight of stairs. Deidara merely shrugged and began walking to one of the exits used by the maintenance crew.
"Not really, I just went to school here. Hasn't changed much, un."
Sasori hummed, not seeming to care at all. "And you're taking me here because…?"
"I want to mooch a cigarette from you, un," Deidara elaborated truthfully.
Sasori made a sound between a grunt and a chuckle. Once outside, Deidara basked in the light of the day and realized that he was starting to feel sick. He still managed to hide his panting, and now, what appeared to be nausea.
Leading Sasori to a spot hidden from eyes below, he sat down against the building and took a few more gulps of his water. Sasori passed him the can apple juice next before sliding down beside him.
"You never replied to any of my messages, un."
Sasori scoffed as he pulled out a cigarette, placed it between his lips and lit it, his other hand used as a cover to protect the flame against the wind.
He inhaled deeply before talking, smoke spilling from his lips. "I thought we were done when you punched me in the face and told me to never speak to you again."
Deidara frowned and pulled one leg up. "Yeah, but that was our usual fight, un."
"And I was getting sick of it. My life got better once you left anyway."
"Yeah, you picked up smoking, un," Deidara said, taking another large gulp of his water.
Sasori gave him a sideways glance and stubbed out the death stick. "Hypocritical, isn't it?"
"No, I quit a six months ago, asshole, un. You know you could've called this past fucking year. When in hell did you get wrinkles, un?"
Sasori didn't seem too amused as he stared out at the horizon of the city. "Probably when I decided to join the medical occupation. You can't make a living off of making puppets."
Deidara shrugged and didn't argue. It wasn't like he was making a living off of sculpting. "Is that why you look like you're going to punch me in the face, un?"
"No, I want to punch you in the face because you're sitting next to me right now," Sasori said while opening his water bottle and taking a sip. "Drink the apple juice."
Deidara simply opened the can and winced as he gulped a quarter of it down. "I hate apple juice."
"I know." Sasori still refused to look at Deidara, and it was starting to tick him off.
"So is this all you've been doing, un? Dealing with high school brats?"
Sasori sighed irritably as he ran a hand through his hair and kept it there. "They were short on staff today and what's a little extra cash."
Deidara shrugged and opened up the peanuts, taking a few and popping them in his mouth. "Aren't you going to ask me how I've been, what I've been doing, un?"
"No," Sasori said, as he took his hand out of his hair and finally looked over at Deidara. "What's with the sudden interest? You're the one who left and now you want to know everything that's happened?" Sasori was scowling at him, but Deidara shrugged once more, and it seemed to piss Sasori off with how harshly he scoffed. "My life was better with you out of it, brat," he grumbled as he stood up, blue scrubs smudged with dirt. "Don't fall off the building and die, or else I'm going to get blamed."
Deidara rubbed the back of his neck and sighed before standing. "I guess it's good to see you, too, un." Sasori refused to slow down for Deidara, but the sculptor didn't seem to mind and he continued to talk to Sasori's back. The man had just reached the stairs when Deidara was taken over by a wave of vertigo. "H-hey, Sasori-no-Danna, wait…" He couldn't find himself finishing the sentence but he continued to walk to the stairs, his hand on the railing.
The last thing he remember was Sasori at the bottom of the steps, looking up at him with wide angry eyes. Then he saw the stairs rushing up at him.
–
When Deidara came to, he was on the ground, a blanket covering him and at least five people swarming around him.
"Sir, are you alright? Can you understand me?" There was a man flashing aa light into his eyes and Deidara hissed while trying to slap the man away.
Someone grabbed his hand and he looked to his left to see Sasori scowling down at him. His clothes looked very ruffled. "Stay still and listen to the doctor," he ordered and Deidara frowned at the tone but did what the man told him to.
After everything was done, Deidara was deemed fine, but he would need to stay in the center they had set up for the patients who fainted. Sasori was wheeling him to the area surrounded by curtains and once they got to the other side, Deidara saw that they were the only ones there.
"You didn't eat, did you?" Sasori asked as he tipped the chair over to dumped Deidara onto a cot roughly.
Deidara only managed to get a hold of the blanket as he fell to the floor with a groan, but he expected to be more sore if he fell down the stairs. He glared up at Sasori. "Bastard, I just fell down a flight of stairs, un." He slowly got up, sat on the bed, but Sasori wouldn't stop scowling at him.
"No you didn't, I fucking caught you and you fell on me, you brat. Now I'm assigned to watch your ass until you're deemed healthy again," Sasori said as he reached into a nearby bag and pulled out a muffin. "Here, eat this and then leave."
Deidara was still lethargic so he ended up getting smacked in the face with the muffin. It didn't hurt, but it pissed him off. "God, what the hell is your problem, un? I hear that you're in town, come all this fucking way here and all you want to do is throw food at me!"
Sasori exhaled sharply and turned away. "I should have let you fall down the stairs," he said and Deidara rolled his eyes before unwrapping the muffin and chomping on it.
"Do you want me to say I'm sorry? That I overreacted, un?" he asked, his mouth full of food.
Sasori turned back to him, eyes narrowed. "Overreacted? Deidara, I broke your fucking clay pot," Sasori hissed as he stomped over to the sculptor. "I can count on three hands how many times you've broken one of my things on purpose, and I still dealt with it because you threw a fit every time I got what you called 'angry'," Sasori said, making air quotations.
Deidara huffed and tossed the muffin aside, glaring up at Sasori. "I did not break fifteen of your things, Sasori, un. I tripped over a puppet and you made me sleep on the couch for two weeks. I thought I was entitled to overreact a little, too, un."
"Fine," Sasori hissed. "Overreact, but don't go crying to me, saying that it's my fault when you were the one who left."
"I went out for cigarettes, un," Deidara exclaimed and Sasori rolled his eyes as he stepped away from the man.
"And you told me you never wanted to see me again. I made your fucking wish come true and you get mad at me."
Deidara scoffed and crossed his arms, suddenly feeling very nauseous again, sweat beading on his brow. "I didn't actually expect you to leave in the half hour that I was gone, un," he muttered and Sasori just sighed harshly before turning away and pacing to the other side of the small area.
"Of course not, you never think about anything you do, you fucking brat."
"You are being so freaking unreasonable, un!" Deidara stood up to march over to Sasori but his legs only got to the initial lift before they turned into noodles. He was falling to his knees when Sasori grabbed him by his arms and the curtain moved aside, revealing a very flustered volunteer.
"Uh… Would it be alright if you two could keep your voices down? You're disrupting some of the donors," she whispered and Deidara looked up at Sasori who just nodded, and the woman left, closing the curtain behind her.
Sasori glared down at Deidara. "Sit down, eat your fucking muffin and shut up for the next hour that you're here." His words cut like a knife but he still set Deidara onto the cot gently, unlike the last time.
Deidara obeyed Sasori but he refused to follow the last rule. "You don't even want to talk about it, un?" He implored, loud enough to be heard, but it still remained a whisper.
"You don't talk, Deidara. You yell until something goes your way, and the last time I checked, you don't even like that." Sasori was looking over some papers as he spoke, refusing to look over at Deidara.
"Yeah, well even yelling doesn't make you listen," Deidara muttered as he lay back onto the cot, his arms behind his head, but still mindful of the arm he used to donate blood. "Do you want to know why I was so freaking upset over you breaking a worthless clay pot, un?"
Sasori didn't stop his shuffling, but Deidara continued to talk.
"Do you remember what day it was, un?"
"No, and I doubt that it is relevant at this moment. Please be quiet, Deidara."
The man on the cot just gave an exasperated sigh. "Of course you wouldn't remember, un. We made plans, you put it in your freaking datebook, or at least you told me you did," Deidara drawled and Sasori did his best to ignore him. "That pot took for-fucking-ever, but not only that, I also made dinner because I know how much you hate to cook, un. But you come to my place in the bitchiest mood ever and go straight to your puppets. You can see where I would be upset by this, un."
"Deidara, please stop talking, you're giving me a migraine."
"I call bullshit, you've never even been diagnosed for having migraines, un. Anyway, onto my story. Here I am, tired enough to set up for this apparently unknown event, and having to deal with your cranky ass when you throw your fucking bag on the table and knock off the pot, un. So, of course, I was upset in the beginning but now I'm pissed. Can you see my side of the story, un?"
Sasori stopped peering down at the papers and he turned to face the other man now. "Don't think I'm an idiot, Deidara, because I fucking knew what day it was. What about the fact that you didn't even bother to find out why I was 'in the bitchiest mood ever'? I come back home only to see that you're a ticking time bomb and that one little thing set you off. Then you freak out and leave so what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Fine, why were you being a bitch, un?" Deidara asked, sitting up, his head spinning.
Sasori scoffed and began pacing like before. "It's irrelevant now."
"No, tell me, un. I want to know," Deidara ordered and Sasori stopped to glare at him.
"I went in for an interview for the nursing program and was denied yet again for no fucking reason. My puppets were taken out of the city's gallery because they were 'too old', and my parts to make your fucking anniversary present didn't come into the mail. Not to mention that you were ignoring me that morning."
Deidara blinked, obviously shocked that Sasori actually explained why he had been upset that day and he opened his mouth to reply, but closed it soon after. Sasori continued to stare at him, daring him to reply and Deidara sighed before standing up.
"I guess I was planning the day out so I didn't notice that I was ignoring you. Sorry, un," Deidara said, leaning on the bed, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Not sorry to anything else?" Sasori said, his tone not welcoming in any way.
Deidara huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm sorry for overreacting to the whole situation, un. I was very wrong to do so."
Sasori stepped in front of him and Deidara continued to watch him. "That took you over a year to say and you lost a pint of blood in the process. Don't you think it would have been easier to just come see me earlier?"
Deidara scoffed and looked away. "Don't be all sarcastic just because you got your way now, un. Besides, I was donating blood for a good cause, un."
Deidara felt the bed dip and he looked to his left to see Sasori sitting next to him. "It's just better that all of this is resolved, even though it was a shit reason in the beginning."
Deidara hummed in agreement.
"Well you finally got into some schooling, un. Besides, it sounded like we needed a break." Deidara then narrowed his eyes at Sasori. "And we were supposed to make smart choices, not try to kill ourselves, un." He reached into Sasori's pocket and pulled out the cigarettes. Sasori scoffed at him when Deidara threw them into the trashcan.
"You seriously expect me to go cold turkey?"
Deidara grunted, "Yeah, that's how I did it, un. Granted it was a bitch, I quit."
Sasori sighed and shook his head. "I honestly don't know why we keep doing this shit. We're obviously not meant to be doing any of this with how many times we end up fighting and splitting up."
Deidara merely shrugged. "The fact that we keep on getting into it must mean something, un."
Sasori fell back onto the cot. "I seriously hope not."
Deidara lay down next to the man. "Yeah, sometimes I say that, too. But then again, I get to be with you and that's the best part, un." He felt Sasori grabbing his hand.
"But does that make up for all the shit we've done to each other?"
Deidara chuckled and looked over at Sasori. "I think so, un. We're here now even after all of it. It means something, un."
Sasori hummed and they both looked at the gymnasium ceiling, hands intertwined and content with the current peace between them.
In the end they're in a dysfunctional relationship, oh well lol.
Was this supposed to be crack? Don't know, just know that I cannot write fluff. Peace out!
(Also this clearly doesn't take place in America because gay men can't donate blood due to murica is full of bigots t( -_- t )
Review?