"How many were there, un?" Deidara questioned, his hands and fingers laced behind his head, his hair spread around his bare shoulders as it air dried. He was resting, sat up against the headboard with his legs straight out and bent at the knees in front of him, parted only a little in the middle where Sasori sat facing him.

"At least twelve" Sasori murmured, cradling his cup of hot milk. He'd tugged on one of Deidara's bed shirts and sweat pants and had settled himself in front of the blonde, his feet resting by the others hips, his knees resting lightly against the side of Deidara's rib cage.

"Did they say anything?" Deidara felt Sasori shift, smelt the milk as it flowed from the cup and into his mouth. "You're stalling" He heard the red head swallow.

"They mentioned… something about barriers and rules and regulations. And then you. They specifically mentioned your name" The mug was raised and Sasori tipped it against his lips again.

"That's all you remember, un?" Deidara frowned, running his tongue over his semi-protruding fang. Sasori sensed the blonde's disappointment and slight confusion. Sasori was known for his tact and impeccable recollection. When Sasori said nothing more, Deidara began to worry. "'Sori?"

"Did they take you somewhere?" Sasori shifted the question focus, sipping at his drink distractedly. "When they got you, did they take you somewhere else?"

"Sasori" Deidara unlaced his hands from behind his head and leant forwards. The red head responded by swinging his legs back together and over the side of the bed - over Deidara's leg and out of reach.

He jumped up, setting the mug of milk down and began pacing the room. Deidara leapt forwards onto his knees, one hand reaching Sasori's wrist as the other grabbed his shoulder from behind. He tugged Sasori back to him, adjusting his hold now that they were closer, holding the red head's waist. He was tempted to dip a hand lower, but Sasori was stood firm and the tension in his limbs made it clear he was trying to stay calm. "Sa'tsuna~" Deidara teased, pressing his lips to an exposed collarbone.

"I almost shifted" Sasori sighed, his shoulders lowering now his pent up anxiety had been released. Deidara placed another kiss on the back of Sasori's neck, brushing his slightly-too-long hair aside with his nose.

"I was heading back to my place when they attacked. They took me somewhere else and the first thing they did was empty a bucket of freezing water over me and laugh. I managed not to change but… it felt like a prank, not an attack. I only remember bits; I'm sorry. I'm not sure what they did"

"I'll rip their throats out" Deidara murmured. "You can use their bones like chew toys and I'll watch as they writhe in despair"

"Didn't take you for a poet" Sasori whispered. "But it's appreciated, nonetheless" They were still for a while, Sasori mulling over his sporadic memories of the previous hours while Deidara imagined his revenge.

"They let you go, un?" Deidara asked after a while.

"Something seemed to draw them away. They just stopped and left" Sasori's voice was quiet. "I remember seeing the woods..." He studied his hands, scabbed and still with a few traces of dirt under his fingernails. "I made it back to mine; it's just flickers from there until I woke up by the fireplace" Deidara gave Sasori's thin body a squeeze, knowing his red head hated the fuzzy in-between moments where he wasn't quite here or there. "Your name was in my head like an echo; I don't know what they said, but I knew they'd mentioned you enough for me to remember it. I came here as soon as I could. Easier than I thought it would be, considering. You do realise there's a blood trail half way down your corridor?"

"I'll find a new place tomorrow, un" Deidara released his red head and leant back - though, still half-knelt up on his bed.

"Do you remember anything?" Sasori asked him.

Deidara flopped backwards, his long legs falling over the side of the bed where they bent at the knees. Sasori stepped closer, his shins against the bedside and inches away from Deidara's legs, his fingers brushing the material on the thighs of Deidara's comfy jogging bottoms. His chest was bare, revealing the healing wounds of his torture.

Any other person might've reached for one, to assess the damage, to empathise, but Sasori was firm in his belief of not exposing vulnerability - something he'd inadvertently picked up when attending family functions. He didn't touch any of Deidara's wounds out of empathy, or sympathy, or even guilt. Instead, he saw them stilled against the pale skin of his boyfriends chest, wondering how many it would have taken for them to disable or incapacitate the blonde completely.

A few of the knife-like lacerations had been close to the left side of his chest, near the tattoo he had covering his heart. He felt his breath hitch at that. It looked too close. He almost reached for that one, but found his fingers had already curled indignantly into fists.

Deidara drew his legs up, his knees bending upwards until the heels of his feet rested on the edges of the mattress. Sasori was tempted to jump him again, but settled for leaning down - his hands either side of Deidara's shoulders - careful to avoid the mass of hair. Deidara's long legs trapped him from behind, crossing at the ankles as they rested against Sasori's back.

"I asked you a question" Sasori murmured, watching the blonde's reaction. He'd already closed his eyes, his hands laced behind his head again in that coy way that always seemed to glorify the vampire's beauty. And that cocky smile... "Deidara?" The blonde couldn't be asleep, surely. "Brat" But just to be sure, Sasori brushed aside the hair flowing over the sightless eye, a move he knew the blonde couldn't ignore for long.

"Hm?" It opened alongside the sparkling baby blue of the other, the coy smile working its way onto Deidara's lips. His hands moved fast, his legs even quicker, using them to knock Sasori off balance and then his hands to catch the red head as he lost his upper strength. They would've fallen, their heads banging together, but Sasori was much too clever to be caught off guard completely. He pulled his body upright before Deidara could steal a distracting kiss.

"What… do you… remember?" He asked, his hands pressing down to keep Deidara still. The blonde barely winced from his position underneath the red head, still splayed out on the bed. Sasori's fingers dug impatiently into the bed sheets.

"Aside from their repeatedly impeccable torture, their extensive weaponry and their creative talent for autopsying my insides, not much" The blonde said, when Sasori clearly wasn't going to give him what he wanted.

"Dei..." Sasori felt his stomach do twists at the thought of someone messing around with his insides. The blonde leant up for a rewarding kiss, but Sasori pulled back and made it clear he wasn't going to comply. Deidara remained still then, working out the calculations in the others eyes; Sasori wasn't going to let him off that easily. What else, his eyes were asking. What else did they do?

"They may have mentioned something about demons un, but not you. I didn't know they'd gone for you and if I had…" Deidara reached a hand up and traced the small markings along Sasori's arm. "They seemed more interested in what my body was doing" Deidara stopped and frowned suddenly, his hand flopping back to his side. "Disgusting - eugh, I feel used, un" He twisted away from Sasori, turning over completely despite the hovering red head and his limbs. Now on his front, Deidara made to crawl away but Sasori spontaneously dropped his weight on top.

"Are you playing?" Deidara murmured, his face in the bed sheets as Sasori flopped his arms and legs over Deidara's limbs.

"Seems so" Sasori whispered. The blonde groaned - for any possible reason.

The red head stilled though, finding more healing lacerations on Deidara's back. He felt his anger return and sourced Deidara's groan as one of discomfort. He rolled off the blonde and began pacing the room again. He saw his clothes drying on the radiator and seized them, glad to find them bone dry and fuzzy warm. He shredded Deidara's shirt and began redressing himself.

"Where are you going, un?" Deidara had rolled himself to the end of the bed, his long arms stretched out, reaching towards Sasori, watching as the red head tugged the sweat pants down. "You're not going anywhere, un" Deidara grinned as he watched Sasori smirk knowingly, but the red head only swapped the trousers for a clean pair of underpants and his dark jeans.

He plucked off the socks from the heater and proceeded to hop them onto his feet. The blonde simply watched as the red head changed into his heated clothing, knowing he'd soon leave.

"We can't stay here" Sasori justified his reason, though they both felt it wasn't the only one. "You need to sleep and I'm not leaving you here. You can stay at my place"

"Bed's warm, though" Deidara shuffled a bit and sighed in obvious contentment.

"You left a blood trail to your door, don't forget. They'll easily find you again - you bled like a freaking river" Sasori raided the blonde's wardrobe and tossed out a pair of jeans, a shirt and a jacket. Habitually, he grasped a scarf and a hat and tossed them to the blonde as well. "Come on" He urged, putting on a pair of gloves.

The blonde moved quickly then, or at least quicker than he was but not as quick as he could. Sasori cursed the injuries, and then blamed himself for feeling so comfortable and relieved. "Deidara" He urged, seeing the blonde slow.

"Fuck off, un" The blonde growled suddenly, his head falling into his hands. "Damned headaches..." Sasori went into the kitchen, finding his boots by the counter and slipping them on. He found the headache pills and filled up a glass of water, striding back to Deidara in seconds. He put them on the bedside table.

"Dei, come on"

It was his eye. The blind eye's nerves were still in working order. They knew they were supposed to be seeing something, the blurs of colour. It never took long for it to wrack the blonde with headaches when he was without his scope.

Sasori picked the scarf up from the bed, that he knew Deidara wouldn't wear, and attacked the blonde from behind. He tied it diagonally across Deidara's head, covering his impaired eye so that the working nerves nerves would at least see pure-black, not the patchwork colour of an almost-something sight. That should at least help. Sasori relayed the plan, keeping the blonde focussed.

"We have to move before the sun comes up anyway. We'll go back to mine and you can sleep. We'll deal with everything else after you rest. Please, Dei"

"Alright - Alright" Deidara wobbled to a stand, his bare feet shifting to balance his weight. He zipped up the jacket over his barely-buttoned shirt and raced a belt through the loops of his jeans. Sasori flopped the beanie hat onto the blonde's head before putting his own on, borrowing another scarf to keep himself warm before heading out to the hallway. Deidara followed, albeit still at a limp and with no socks or boots on - and he'd removed the hat.

"Shoes, Dei"

"Do you want me to wear shoes or move faster? Choose carefully, un" Sasori grimaced at this, debating his options.

"Just hurry up"

Deidara turned and limped back into the bedroom. Sasori waited, listening to him shuffle things around and then emerge with a duffel bag partly opened. He moved into the other rooms of his apartment, grabbing some things and dumping them into the bag, not bothering to zip it up. He stopped, and Sasori could see the mental checklist running through his eyes.

"Straighteners? Hair dryer? Extra socks?" He joked, and Deidara pulled a face.

"Don't get pissy with me, un"