(Re-Edited Version)
Done! This is still riddled with typos and some other errors, I know. But I want to get it out of the way because I have other things to write.
Those who've read the old chapters know why Sasuke is acting strangely at the end of this, but I've decided to be more subtle about the issue than before. It was meant to be a shocker and be as grotesque as possible (such is the mind of my 15-year-old self, alas). However, due to the possibility of this being deleted and me banned from the site, I'll find a way to be more subtle but just as shocking. Hard stuff to do, I know.
Anyway, reviews are appreciated and I hope you enjoy. :D
Disclaimer: If ever I owned Naruto, it would be far more twisted than it is.
Gods of Vindication
Part Three: Liquid Obsidian
"And our scars remind us that the past is real, I tear my heart open just to feel…"
The strip of sunshine had come and gone and the room was getting darker by the minute. Through the shaft of open window he could glimpse through the curtains, Sasuke stared at the lavender sky as he lay on his front. It was dusk.
He breathed in deeply, staring at the patch of brightness and the single source of light in the room. He felt comfortable and at peace, the first in a long time. Gray eyes so dark they were almost black flitted down to his companion on the bed, softly sleeping without a care in the world. She also looked at peace, so jeopardizingly so.
Before he knew it, a smirk made its way onto his lips, condescening of her gullibility.
Sakura was curled in a ball, breathing soft and protracted in deep slumber, hair almost white in the half light. At least she was facing him. She had been always so careless about the little things, so dependent on others to fill in the void in her weakness, a madly irritating habit being carried on to this day. Even from before, she needed someone to watch her back for the night, unable to fully count on herself. Each time they slept in a tent with Kakashi mooning on his orange book outside, he envied how she could sleep so soundly like danger wasn't around the corner. It was so sickening how she never outgrew that.
She made a deep sigh, pink lips parting as she moved her head and exposed a pale throat. His breath stilled. Beneath the smooth skin there was life, pulsing in a steady beat that captured his attention. She was just as alive as him, and it was tempting to see if he could quell her blood, just stop it cold and watch her essence fade away.
The beating of her heart was the same tempo in her veins, arteries, capillaries, and he reached across to her half of the circular bed, resting his hand across that throat, splaying his fingers across the supple skin within his reach. He could feel every throb beneath his thumb and fingertips, cartilage sculpted beneath the span of his hand.
He wanted, a strong and dreadful desire, to clamp down then watch her struggle. There was a numbing rush in his ears drowning his senses to go on, Do it. He tried resisting. Killing her off would make all his effort so far as worthless as she was to him. But her blood continued pounding, alluring like a lustful lover on a cold night.
Suddenly she changed positions, and his heart took a wayward plunge. He would have slit her throat had he not been consciously watching her. She moved closer to him, nuzzling at his shoulder like a cat, his jaw hardening at the sight of pink hair, bleached colorless by twilight, mussed before his pillow and her body soft and clinging to his arm. She was searching for warmth. Gravitating toward someone sharing your bed was normal, he knew, especially on cold nights. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have tried to touch her. He wondered what Orochimaru would say if he told him she died being suffocated under a pillow.
When he tried prying his hostaged limb away from his former teammate, she spoke a muffled whisper triggering a deep seated bell of emotion that sent his ears ringing.
"Naruto... stop squirming... baka..."
Naruto!? Even if he could slap her awake, he didn't. It was so grotesquely annoying to just picture the image of the two of them sharing a bed so he forced it out of his mind. They would be a good match, Tweedledum and Tweedledumber. He hadn't expected it though, and the very thought made him want to carry out throttling her in her sleep. Was it Naruto who shared her bed during drunken nights? Was he the one who made her into what she was now? Did he finally get between your legs like he wanted to?
Nevertheless, he shoved his convictions aside for the moment and continued watching the slice of sky outside instead, feeling her breathing against him. In a few minutes he'd have to wake her up anyway, and they'd continue on. No more dreaming of Naruto.
ooo000ooo
They had left the outskirts of Konoha for some time now and traveled mostly on foot for the whole night. By the darkest hours they managed to hitch a ride with a boy leading his donkey-driven cart. He asked no questions about them when Sasuke handed him a tinkling bag heavy with silver, going so far as to alert them when passing checkpoints. That was hours ago, and they were now back on foot towards Sound.
She felt warm in the civilian coat Sasuke lent her, remembering how they detoured through his abandoned home and how she walked through its darkened, dusty halls. She was thankful she accepted it. The climate changed rapidly, the trees thinning out and patches of slush appearing all over the place. The cold seeped into her skin and made her shiver. They recently passed another travelers town whose warm inns and fireplace she longed to go back to.
Trudging forward, Sakura could now see the sky in the east turning into a light pink color merging with indigo and sparkling stars of the west. It was already dawn, which was unusually late for them to start finding a place to stay.
"Are we going to... find a place to rest?" she asked, breaking the silence which hung between them for hours.
Sasuke abruptly stopped and turned around to face her, expression set in hard scrutiny. He hadn't talked to her since the incident where she had tried to make him sleep on the bed. His moods were more volatile now, and precariously unreadable. She had been just about to catch on to the way he communicated with them before he left all those years ago, and now she had absolutely no idea what to expect.
"Are you tired?" he asked sharply, causing her to stop in her tracks as well. "If you are, we could. But you know, I was thinking we could reach our destination by noon if we kept going. Of course, if you're tired, princess, we can stop if you want us to."
He was at it again, voice thickly lined with sarcasm and probably conveying she and Naruto were far out of his league. She had yet to adjust to the switch of sleeping in the day and awake at night, and now he was changing it again. She probably showed it, the ostentatious bastard. He knew she would prove him right by agreeing she couldn't go further, and at the same time she knew she wouldn't last much longer if she kept her mouth shut.
He was making her do it on purpose, to tell him she was weak and couldn't be like him. Her mouth soured.
"I'm fine, Sasuke-kun," formally addressing him and giving him a tight smile. "You're right, it's stupid of me."
She moved forward, passing him, and the moment she took a step beyond him the Uchiha grabbed an arm to roughly held her back, twisting it behind her and shoving her kneeling to the ground. Pain flashed when she tried to move, bracing herself on the dusty earth with her free arm.
"You're such a bad liar," she heard him say with a hiss in his tone, his grip wielding fingers like steel.
"Please," she entreated, wondering how he had developed such a vicious streak, "Sasuke..."
He didn't let her finish but he did listen, however, and released her, leaving her once again to pick herself up and try to regain whatever dignity she had. He never seemed to care about anything yet whenever the chance arose for him to cut her down, he takes it with a vengeance. Something in him had changed that night when he woke her up, black eyes glittering in the darkness as he shook her awake. There was a difference in him, something which he had quickly masked when she tried to ask him.
Now, he had turned quick-tempered, too easily triggered into hurting her. For what reason, she didn't know. She guessed as much he maybe wanted to see her suffer, the only reason he seemed to continue doing as he pleased, never answering her questions.
It was the not knowing that made her scared. And it turned to be so hard not to cry because this is not Sasuke, at least not the one she knew. Raising her head to look over shoulder at the dark-haired avenger standing behind her, it hurt her to know this was not him. Yet at the same time, he was, because he was there, watching her with unmoved eyes and waiting for her to stand. He was so painfully the same, but even more so painfully different.
"Get up."
His voice was deeper, more commanding. In a sense he had become threatening in every way, every move, every turn of his head. He turned around, walking back along the path back toward the village. Insolence raged in her, of why he was acting like this. How dare he treat her like this? They were friends before, he saved her countless times before. Now it was like nothing mattered anymore to him, throwing them away like used bandages. She bit her lip, not following his order.
Sasuke seemed to have noticed, pausing and turning around to face her. She cringed, knowing she had sparked a reaction.
He stood there like a specter, a shadow against the backdrop of cheerful lights from the village they left behind. She felt a flare of chakra, ebbing like a volatile mess before an explosion. It took a second before she saw the blue spark crackle between his fingers.
The ground shuddered as the sound of thunder blasted the air between them, her instinct kicking in when electricity surged towards her like a snake lunging at it prey. Thanking the gods he didn't seal her open points and dragging her hands up from the ground in a series of seals, she met the blistering blue wave with an updraft wind barrier howling like a storm tempest. The point of contact sizzled for a second. Then the shockwave exploded.
Rock and soil flew, sharp against her skin hadn't the remnants of her shield managed to blow them away from her. It left turgid smoke wafting away until she could make out Sasuke's form walking toward her. Gray black vapor wafted around his ankles as he stalked to her, apprehension gripping the base of her spine at the danger he posed.
He stopped before her shield, dark form towering. The dawn constellation right above his head appeared like a crown of spun crystal and light, his gray eyes watching her resolutely and indicating nothing of his intention. The barrier she erected was still glowed visibly, the wind having died down but a green haze screen still remained between them.
A smirk spread across his lips but the amusement did not touch his inexpressive eyes.
"Seems you've outgrown being such a pushover," he said, her guard failing and the green shield flickering away into the night. "I said, get up."
ooo000ooo
The warmth blasted his face the moment he pulled the door open, escaping into the night air as he stepped into the inn. This was at least a decent town to stop at, more people to be lost in. Also, there were less people who cared when he all but dragged Sakura back into the reaches of the sprawling houses.
Pulling off the hood of his cloak, he approached the desk and rang the bell on the table. The place was deserted from how it looked like. Couches and chairs arrayed the expanse of the first floor but no people were in sight. This was good. Less eyes to pry into business not their own. He reached out for a second time to ring the bell when a girl behind the bar straightened up with a dusty pen in hand, presumably something she was searching for on the floor.
"Oh, hullo there," she giggled, cheeks reddening at the sight of him. "Ya want a room for the night?"
It always was so easy dealing with people who couldn't look beyond a pretty face. They were incredibly gullible, most of the time witless shallow people who did not understand pretty faces could mean ugly deaths. His brother, of all people, was gifted with looks as well. Still, this time his appearance served his purpose, and he gave the girl a curt nod.
"Would that be a single bed, ser?" she asked coyly, looking up at him from beneath thick lashes with brown doe eyes. "Mayhaps I can send someone up to warm it later if you want that. Got mighty chilly past few months now and them men like it when I find... friends, for bed warmers."
She looked pretty, a common shade of pretty, but what drew his attention was the shock of bright pink hair. It was incredibly unlike Sakura's, this one dyed to an almost neon color it could blind. His former teammate had a far tamer hue he pondered, casting a glance behind him as the devil followed him into the inn and pulled off her cloak to breathe a lungful of the homey air. Pinkish white, Like cherry blossoms, as it spilled out from the wine-colored hood.
He turned his attention back to the receptionist, about to tell her they would need two beds, when her eyes widened and fixed on Sakura. It returned back to him, suspicious all of a sudden. He swallowed hard the urge to kill her where she stood.
"One bed," he said evenly the moment Sakura walked up to him. He drew her close, wrapping an arm around her waist and holding it tight without taking his eyes off the girl behind the bar. "Please."
The girl still looked uneasy as he passed ryou notes over the counter, fidgeting like a student hiding a paper note from the teacher. He ignored the fact Sakura was probably stupidly staring at him and wondering why he was doing this, but the girl knew something. How, why, he didn't need to find out, just to give her the impression nothing was wrong. Killing her would only make untidy business in a town as small as this.
He gave her a smile, so forced it hurt to make it appear genuine. His effort was rewarded with a relaxed sigh, like of a captive being released. She took the money with a flourish, still apprehensive, but more trusting. He had her now, under a different sort of manipulation.
"Two men came earlier today," multitasking and counting the money under her breath. "They had them metal things with some sorta leaf symbol. Said they was looking for a girl with pink hair. I guess they was thinking I was her, uh huh, but they rented a room instead when they saw me."
She paused when she reached the last sheaf of paper. "You staying for three days?"
Sasuke kept the smile plastered on his face. Beneath his fingers digging into his former teammate's side, he could feel quickened breathing and tense muscles. So she finally caught on too. He hoped she was as good a pretender in things like these. This was the forte of kunoichi, after all.
"We're only staying until tonight," he replied calmly. "You can keep the change." And your life too.
She stared at Sakura, a flicker of envy shimmering beneath the tentative smile on her face. People thought Sasuke didn't know how much girls could squabble over him, but he did notice them. He only chose to ignore their frivolous antics to make his life less complicated, although it seemed the more he maneuvered society with cold shoulders the more they called for him.
"They were sayin' the girl they was looking for was kidnapped," she measured out in careful words.
He could feel how his companion tremble beneath the cloak. Damn it, Sakura. Keep it steady. Turning to look at her tenderly, he brushed away the tangled pink mess from her face, a warm smile for her but a stern warning all the same. Those green pools were worried as they stared back. It wasn't hard to pretend. There was always going to be a part of him before the ruin of his life who could portray such a false happiness, mocking like a mask dipped in acid.
"She's my wife," he addressed, keeping his eyes on Sakura. She was calming down. Easy now...
Romance was not a notion lost on him, playing the girl like a doll. Feed her misinformation and she would likely squawk it as soon to the next inquiring shinobi as quickly as she squawked to them about the search. If he was good, they'd write this off as another wrong sighting, another pink-haired girl they were not looking for. It was easier to clean than blood on kusanagi.
"I couldn't bear for her to be married off like a pawn to someone twice her age, a known drunkard who whored around. So I took her, and we ran."
The girl had been twirling the strangely colored hair around her finger and was starstruck at the idea as she listened to his tale. It was plainly written on her face, the story of a handsome man saving a helpless girl from an horrendous situation. Such stories made up ridiculous novels women always cantered to like stallions in heat and were easy to slap together to make an equally ridiculous story this innkeeper's daughter would believe. To add credence, he painfully tried to smile at her again. Konoha would all the more believe they were tracking the wrong trail.
"I knew it," she breathed airlessly, eyes alight with excitement. "I knew who they was looking for was royalty. My da tells me stories of them highborn ladies with pink hair, and he actually saw one when I was but a newborn babe. 'Tis why I color my own hair, makes me feel like I'm a princess, and all them good looking boys say they like it." She bit her lip, finger pausing from twisting her hair and training doe eyes on Sakura. "Miss, are you a princess? Or maybe a lady? Your color's have to be real, ain't it?"
The utter mortification in Sakura's face made him swallow a parsimonious laugh, instead channeling it to the misleading smirk on his lips. How stupid. Kings with pink haired daughters. His former teammate was probably only was an abomination that happened out of accident. Of course, he didn't know the girl already had notions of royalty in her shallow little head. Let her carry on then. A little nonsense wouldn't hurt.
"She is," he said at the same time Sakura answered, "It's real."
He took the keys and radiated a sickening smile, stunning the girl silent as his fingers brushed gently against her hand. Pulling Sakura up the stairs and shadows, his lips threw off the falsehoods and curled into a viperous frown.
ooo000ooo
Sasuke closed the door and leaned his forehead against the cool wood, slamming a hand hard against the varnished surface before curling it into a fist. Regardless of the bullshit he fed the girl, the mere fact she knew about them was not a good thing. They shouldn't have gone back in the first place. Everything would have been perfectly fine.
He heard clothes rustling when she turned, the floor boards groan as she moved toward him. He kept his head on the door.
"Sasuke-kun."
He exhaled loudly.
She didn't answer for a while then took another step closer. So abhorrently weak she still needed to rest during the day, asking to look for a fucking inn. He didn't know anymore how he felt about having her around, because definitely she was more trouble than her worth. If he could seal her in a scroll to keep from interacting with him at all, he would have done it without hesitation.
"Sasuke-kun," she repeated, a hand lightly falling on his shoulder.
When he turned his head to look at her she drew back slightly, jade eyes wide and worried about him. Why the hell should she even be bothering when she was the reason for all of this? She at least had the decency to look ashamed. Thin brows brought together, mouth drawn with dimples on her chin, eyes with too much emotion you couldn't pick any one out. She managed to have her own sort of unreadability it made him a bit more contemptuous. This was so Sakura he wanted to lay a hand hard across those soft features to get her to stop being so open.
"What do you want?"
All the emotions on her face were contending as she tried to sort her mind out and tell him whatever she wanted to say. She had to know what shit they were in as of the moment and not talk about something senseless, as say, what had happened earlier when he called her his wife.
"If you want... want to hit me," her voice too soft and timorous, "hurt me. Whatever you want to do... do it."
What?
He stared. For a moment he thought he heard her wrong, but the sheepish look on her face told him otherwise. His lips flowed into a cruel smile he couldn't stop from spreading because what she suggested was so plain and obvious it warranted its own reaction. He wanted to run a hand through his face but settled for looking away at the room instead, trying not to laugh right in her face like it was the most spiteful joke. She looked more worried now.
Finally he managed to settle his eyes on her, then shook his head with a short insulting laugh.
"You don't know even know what you're asking, do you?" he told her, taking her by the soft flesh of her throat before pushing her against the door with a whimper of protest. He stayed his hand from gripping too tightly, the feel of her throbbing pulse again mocking him once more. Wide green eyes met his hard, indicting ones. He couldn't keep his hand still, not like this, as he dragged his thumb across the length of her throat with so much self control he was sure she could feel him trembling. Down slow to her collarbones, up once more to her jaw, wanting to crush between his fingers and feel her struggle to live beneath the smooth, matte skin.
As much as her hair was a strange mutation, so was she to the ninja society. Strange, yet it happens. It surprised him she still lived, but reason pointed out it must be how the Konoha system coddled and spoiled the youngsters to mere blade-wielding children which was to blame. They were nothing if they didn't break out, and he would have been one of those if he'd stayed behind.
Feeling her lashes stir lightly against his hair, he could feel her inhale sharply. "I want to get rid of you."
The pulse against his hand sped up, emerald irises constricting to black points on a sea of lovely, terrified green. Her eyes were the one thing he found liked about her, but it wasn't enough. Lifting his other hand from the door and standing back, he reached behind him to pull his sword free, observing his former teammate watching the blade being poised with naked horror. Her hands rose to latch onto his wrist bearing her neck against the door.
He struck, and felt the startled jump in her muscles, the racing heartbeat beneath his hand, eyes shut tight expecting the worst.
Kusanagi was stabbed deep into her shirt, the flat of the sword flush against the flesh of her side and cold like ice but not breaking skin. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and full of questions, lashes brushing against his. Releasing the firm caress from her throat, he pressed his weight against the panel beside her head and took a step back. She was caged in with his arm on one side and a sword on the other, locked with a grave obsidian stare.
"Enough complaining. The next time, you keep your mouth shut and suck it up," he disparaged in a contemptuous tone, narrowing his glare. "I have to clean up after this. Now go to sleep."
For a moment he read anger flashing in those pools of green, so quick he would have missed it hadn't he been staring at her the whole time. It morphed back into that undecipherable swirl of emotions when she moved to push his arm aside and trudged to the bed. Extracting kusanagi from the door, he sheathed it without looking back even as the rusty springs of the mattress squeaked under her weight, the sound of clothes falling to the floor. Without looking back, bedclothes rustled and she moved beneath the sheets.
Not wanting to look back, he twisted the knob and stepped out.
ooo000ooo
Outside, he took a deep breath to rid his lungs of the building's musty air. When he exhaled, his breath came out as a puff of white fog quickly disintegrating into the gentle wind. The climate was changing but it didn't bother him. He was used to it. Sakura, though, was another matter. If only he hadn't heeded her whines, they wouldn't have drawn unwanted attention.
Taking long, slow strides down the street he couldn't help pulling the hood of the cloak higher around his neck. He was accustomed to this environment, but the wind bit into his skin as he delved into the crush of people haggling and hawking in the market square.
"Excuse me," said a man, completely blocking his way. "I think you dropped something."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed at him, his hand automatically moving to his sword under the cover of his cloak. His shadow loomed ominous against the bright blue sky above. If he dropped something, he should know.
"It's not mine," he answered, stepping to the right and deftly moving around the man in front of him in an attempt to thwart whatever he was planning. He was pretty big, thick muscles and a bit of fat, chunky around his midriff. He was physically strong, Sasuke knew. If he was a brigand or a robber, this would not be pretty.
"I said," the man continued, placing a beefy hand on his shoulder to stop him. "I think you dropped something."
Sasuke reacted, eyes narrowing at the heavy weight laid on his shoulder, and then reached with his other hand to push it off. The instant he touched the other man, his arm was grabbed with such a force Sasuke thought it possible to be in Sakura's league. The Uchiha was pushed forward as it twisted into a mercy grip. All that in a matter of seconds, and the people who were milling around them had not bothered to notice. No one probably saw it, nor would they care.
"So your muscles aren't all show," he said cynically. He couldn't possibly try to free his hand without causing a commotion. Sending a surge of electricity would be too brazen and was sure to expose them all the more. "Who are you?"
"You don't need to know who I am, but I know who you are," answered the man, a glint of teeth. "And don't bother trying to do anything funny. You're the younger Uchiha."
The sureness of the tone used almost made Sasuke laugh. This man was dense enough to not know he was dangerous. Yet, he still needed to know the nature of this person, however much he wished he could slay at will. Being surefooted now they were so close to Orochimaru, it was a step he needed to take to ensure no one followed them. The one holding him could be a missing nin, a Konoha ninja, anyone who had a glimpse at his face and name including headhunters. The way he was held made it seem he was at the disadvantage here.
"What do you want?" he asked instead.
They needed to move to a more secluded place. Whoever this man was, he made sure his catch wouldn't be able to make a loud nor easy exit. Covering his tracks after would be a pain he didn't want to waste time on.
The man grinned, looking down at him. That very same look made the hairs stand at the back of his neck. "Do you know where Haruno-san is?"
The unease he felt about the situation now settled, Sasuke keeping a stoic appearance and taming his chakra which had turning violent. That fast, huh? It wouldn't do to be rash. If they were discovered quickly, then this too can end as quickly.
"No," he replied, even and choosing. "I wasn't even near your village recently."
"Do you know what happens to liars?" The man tsked, scraggly facial hair following his words. "I send them to hell."
The continuous flow of carts, pets and various livestock around them diverted away the attention of those who happened to glimpse them, making them go unseen in the midst of people. And the noise. It drowned out their conversations until no one could hear them clearly, merchants waggling their tongues for their wares and customers haggling their throats raw. Either way, he loses. If he fights, news will reach Konoha through word of witnesses' mouth. If he runs, news will reach Konoha through this man.
"Right," he responded, trying to find a better way to get away and keep this shinobi quiet. He could either be merely a self-assured braggart or he had something to back up his presumptuous attitude toward the last Uchiha. He can find out later, when they were out of the town's eye.
"Is she your little girlfriend, that's why you're hiding her?"
"I knew her, but she's not with me. She's not my problem."
"Ooh, really? She's a pretty lass, if you ask me. You sure you're not hiding her somewhere?" he continued with a nasty laugh. "You little punks think you can do away without asking first. Hokage-sama's sick with worry, you know?"
He gritted his teeth. Tsunade was on to them. He should have know the risk was there when Sakura told him where she lived. There was no other option now but to kill this informant. The girl at the inn told him there were two people who were looking for them, but if this man had any other companions, he couldn't sense their presence.
"It's none of my business," he replied icily. "Now let me go."
"Oh, but it is, boy," the man chuckled. "You're still wanted in Konoha. I'm gonna take you home."
It wasn't his home. At least, not anymore. He kept silent, but with a sharp tug managed to get his hand free from the sweaty grasp as he turned around to glare at the man. He'd make sure to rip out his tongue, just in case.
"Oho, you're good," sounding amused but he didn't seem impressed. "Like a snake. A traitorous, ungrateful snake."
"If you're done, I'll be on my way."
Those piggy black eyes were searching his face, scrutinizing closely. Suddenly he was grinning, revealing a row of white gleaming teeth.
"Well, okay then," he said slowly. "Has anyone told you, you got a pretty face?"
Sasuke blanched, anger and revulsion draining blood from his face. An unbidden image flashed through his mind for only a split second, but it was enough to burn. You fucking disgust me.
"Yeah, that's right," the man continued, grin widening at his reaction. "You even look prettier than most girls. Say, I give you a proposal. Let's go somewhere private, and I can tell 'em back in Konoha I didn't see you."
He was growing angrier the more he talked, trying not to remember. He had to struggle against slashing through this old pervert with a chidori right then and there. Of all things, he hadn't expected this to come up. As repulsive as the situation was, he knew he could find some silver lining in there somewhere. A hidden place, free from prying eyes. This fool wouldn't even know he'd be dead before he can lay his hand on him again.
A mask of placidity drew up to hide his shock, as much neutrality as he could muster at the moment. This would be another kill he didn't mind making. Konoha would thank him if they knew.
"Why not?" An immoral smirk appeared even as he tasted bile. "I choose where."
ooo000ooo
The door softly clicked shut behind him.
When his eyes adjusted in the dark, he saw Sakura lying almost to the edge of the bed, deep asleep with the curtains drawn to a close. Shrugging out of the dusty cloak and sitting at the foot of the bed, he felt weary. Emotions were the bane of his existence, of that much he was sure. Even as he pulled off his sandals and loosened his belt, he was aware he needed to forget things—things that were part of him—especially when he dealt with the dregs of humanity. The man earlier was just pathetic. His brother, he was the different one.
Sliding into the sheets beside his former teammate, the one who spent all her shame and embarrassment on him, he pulled her close until her back was firm against his chest. She didn't wake. There were deeper secrets he had now which he did not intend to let her know, but for now he needed stability.
They were good like this until nightfall.
Dusk.