Sasori paced around his kitchen. He didn't have to wait long until a gruff voice answered on the other side of the line. "I take it the invitation arrived, then." Kakuzu anticipated what his closest friend was calling about.

The puppeteer restrained himself from rolling his eyes, even though the elder man would not even see. He paused, gathering his words before speaking up. "Ah yes, sure they did. Both of them - how come you never mentioned knowing my asshole neighbour?"

Kakuzu huffed. He sat back, rolling his chair a little from underneath the desk. He was tucked away in the study; it was a Saturday night, yet the upcoming costs of his and Hidan's wedding was weighing on his shoulders. Checking on his investments made him feel calmer. When the trickle of nerves began to drum away at his stomach, this was usual behaviour for the finance professional.

He sucked against his teeth before responding to Sasori. "I don't; so I didn't." Kakuzu span the seat around as he heard crashing noises coming from the kitchen. Wearily considering what mess Hidan was making with dinner, he grunted before carrying on. "Hmm. Besides - we'll all meet soon enough, what was the point in wasting breath on it before?"

Sasori just had an incredulous expression as he listened to Kakuzu's follow up.
Sure, sure…eurgh. The redhead was about to say something further when Kakuzu cut through the thoughts swiftly.

"Moving on - are you free on the 22nd? I want us all to look at suits. You can stay over, meet Hidan properly?"

The offer cooled the redhead's irritableness. It prompted the puppeteer to look at his behaviour; it was Kakuzu and his partner's wedding after all - he needed to get over this affront with Deidara.
At least in front of the happy couple, anyway.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Sasori agreed amicably.

"Perfect." Kakuzu's voice was clipped. "I gotta go - but yeah there's room for you and Deidara to stay, so just let us know when you're going to get here." There was a crash and a shriek that was muffled by the phone. The banker gave a micro-pause before picking up in a deadpan tone. "We'll go out for dinner or something. I really have to go now; Hidan's cursing his meat cleaver not being sharp enough. I'm coming, don't use that one, for fuck's—" The phone call was abruptly ended by the elder man.

Sasori inhaled sharply through his nostrils. The prospect of the trip made his middle bubble with wanton frustration now it was confirmed he'd be spending pretty much a whole weekend with Deidara.

He exhaled slowly, letting the air seep out. The puppeteer was reminded promptly of his earlier maxim to try and persevere with putting up with the blond for his best friend's sake.
Despite Sasori feeling a dull cloud over his shoulders at the thought, he resolved to put up with the annoyance as best he could.

Time rolled away quickly. Before long, the weekend to visit Sasori's hometown had dawned on the redhead.

"You ready?" He called out tersely. Deidara had his back to the elder man. Instead of locking his front door, the sculptor pulled it open and rushed back inside. Sasori let out an exasperated sigh as he gripped against his travel mug of coffee. The blond came hurtling back out the door, before finally locking it behind him and scooting to meet the redhead at his car.

"I nearly left my headphones behind, un." The blond threw out as the two men got in the car. The redhead raised his eyebrows. Stoically, the puppeteer was somewhat grateful he might not have to talk to Deidara for the whole journey.

They had reached a compromise about this coming weekend. Sasori agreed to drive them both - save travelling separately. Deidara would pay him back in fuel money. They had a tacit agreement to try and get along, so far as was possible for the distinct artists.

Sasori was aware of the awkwardness of this reality as they started driving.
After a while, Deidara was checking his phone, when he began murmuring under his breath.

The puppeteer reached over and turned the volume down on the music; his choice of music playlist, obviously. "Say something?" He prodded.
The blond took a moment to respond. He wrestled his eyes from his screen, before locking the device.

"Nah just…Work messaging on my weekend off, un."
He could see the blond's eyes dart back to his phone.

Sasori nodded a little. After a heavy pause, he was moved to say something.

"They shouldn't be bothering you when you're not in." He chastised. The redhead was struck that he had no idea what the blond even did for work. He barely knew the guy below the surface.

Attempting to remedy that a little, Sasori cleared his throat and asked the question. He wanted to glean more information about the younger man. After all, the puppeteer wanted to be prepared for what else he might be in for this weekend.

"Oh work? I uh…I work in construction, un." The blond relaxed back a little.

Sasori gave the younger man a surprised look. He roved his grey eyes over the sculptor's features; from his flowing blond hair and dark eye makeup. He was wearing a crop top that showed the underside of his ribcage just so through a fine, mesh like material.

"Really…huh." Was all the puppeteer replied. He pursed his lips together, thinking.

Deidara seemed to understand what the scarlet haired man was considering. "Oh - you think I don't look the part, un? Times have changed, my man."

Sasori's nostrils flared, bated by the accusation. Why did the blond have to be like this - jump on each sentence with a denunciatory tone? It was one of the elements that made interacting with Deidara particularly painful.

Sasori's voice was tempered as he responded. "I'm well aware of changes to society, Deidara. I just didn't think you'd be interested in…well, buildings."

The sculptor flashed his teeth at the redhead, sitting up a little straighter. "Oh well; that's true. I'm actually in demolitions - way more fun to blast things apart, un. I travel a fair bit which is why I am often away from home, un."

The redhead went through a myriad of responses as he considered the tidbits he was learning about Deidara's life. Sure; the suspicious booms emanating from the garden made a bit more sense now. Although the puppeteer's hackles were up should said thing happen again - he made a mental note to check asap that once they were home.
The puppeteer began to understand why he saw Deidara arriving and leaving the house at odd hours; he supposed it wasn't exactly a consistent sort of workplace.

The talked a little more. Sasori's job felt more reined in; he was a project manager for a software company, leading a team of developers on new projects. Dealing with people was not something he particularly relished. However, he had been promoted over the years to management as he had the drive to succeed and an adept manner of getting things done with those who worked under him. Indeed, Sasori was pretty good at spinning lots of plates at once.

When they finally arrived at Hidan and Kakuzu's place, Sasori actually admitted the journey had not been as bad as it could have been. For the last 50 minutes, Deidara had been dozing in the passenger seat, his large headphones nestled over each ear. His head lolled forwards, long fringe hiding most of his face.

Sasori found his lips twitch together in mirth. Heh. Damn passenger princess…
The puppeteer leaned over once the car stopped, and gently put a hand on Deidara's shoulder. The younger man began to stir as the vehicle movement slowed. He looked back at the redhead with a face scrunched against the tiredness.

"Ah…we're here, un?"

The puppeteer hn'd under his breath. He realised his hand was still on Deidara's shoulder. Sasori drew it away slowly, moving to pull his fingers through his own messy fringe.

The blond's blue eyes blinked into life. He stretched and grinned, the smile evident on the way he spoke an uplifted "Let's go, un."

...

The two artists were swept into the open-plan lounge once Kakuzu opened the door. Hidan and Deidara greeted each other enthusiastically, the two fair haired men pulling each other into a tight squeeze.

"Let me get you a drink, Dei, Sasori?" The Jashinist raised an arm to clasp onto the redhead's palm, pulling him into a greeting. Sasori was a little taken aback but made pleasantries with Hidan.

It didn't take long for them to look around the flat; it was relatively small, yet had a modern, eclectic feel to the place. Sasori sat on the couch as the other voices carried over him, eyes taking in the scenery. He could see Kakuzu's influence in how tidy the lounge was, and the impressive set of leather style journals that were stacked in a large bookcase opposite.
Sasori's eyelids dipped, his eyes relaxing. Kakuzu was still methodical with his ledgers, then.

What was out of the ordinary for his old friend was the strange, esoteric pieces and ornaments that were affixed - on a table side here, on a wall there.
Symbols that Sasori didn't recognise threw a shot of the abstruse in the redhead's peripheral awareness.
He was soaking in the atmosphere as the others continued to talk; It was actually pretty cosy.

Before long, they had headed out to dinner. Hidan and Kakuzu took them to their regular haunt; all four men managed to squeeze into a booth. On this Friday night, it was full as overlapping chatter permeated their eardrums.
They had eaten and were in that buzz of weekend freedom, sinking the beers with vim, the way that often happened when good friends caught up.

Sasori learned the detail of how Kakuzu and Hidan had met, namely working at the same company. Where Kakuzu was in finance, Hidan was part of their marketing team. Things had spilled out in the aftermath of a works party. The Jashinist and banker had left promptly after Hidan offered the latter the chance to sample the best head of his life.
True to form, Hidan did not disappoint, and their liaison blossomed from there.

Now it was Hidan's turn to tease the redhead.
"I gotta say, you're less menacing in person, Sasori." Hidan tipped his drink towards the puppeteer.
The redhead inclined his head. By now, the warmth of the hangout bar and grill had gone to his head slightly.
"Do tell, what gave you that impression?"

Kakuzu smirked. Deidara was taking a long slurp of his beer, yet as he emerged from the stein, his eyes were wide, catching onto to the conversation.

"T'ch; maybe they were mere fables now I see the real you." Hidan lounged back, his own beer glass tilted towards his lips. He ran his tongue against the rim of the glass, violet eyes staring down the puppeteer.
The Jashinist put a test before the redhead, seeing how he would respond.
"The old man told me how you got them out of a sticky spot, when you still lived here."

Sasori's eyelids lowered, his expression waxy. He didn't even shoot a look over at the banker; he knew Kakuzu wouldn't even be rankled by such an admission. Merely, it was Sasori who was mollified that his oldest friend would ever divulge events of that night to someone else…

The puppeteer swallowed, missing a beat for just a second.
Deidara watched closely, not noticed by the redhead. When Sasori's lips twitched into a hollow smile, the sculptor was taken aback by how playful he was being in his follow up.

"Ahh well; perhaps you know enough about me already. I see why Kakuzu likes you - be sure to tell him enough, 'Kuzu."

Kakuzu sipped his bottled beer; "Shut up." He threw back at Sasori, a little delayed. He had been, if only for a moment, a little too flustered to reply straight away.

Hidan threw his head back in a guffaw, lurching the hand holding his stein sideways, so much so that it tipped and dribbled over the table.

"Can't take you anywhere." Deidara quipped, stretching his legs out. "C'mon, let's get another, un."

And with that, Hidan and Deidara wriggled out of the booth. Music filled the air, and for once, the puppeteer felt pretty content being out and having fun like this.
First time in a while, he thought inwardly.

There was an unspoken moment, whereby Kakuzu sought Sasori's eyes - his distinctive green ones were bold with fervour.
Sasori's were more stoic, yet they softened a tad when in the presence of his friend.

"Hidan's great; he's very…different, though." The puppet began, leaning forwards on the table. He saw a flash in the banker's eyes, prompting the redhead to hastily get to the point.
"He brings a different side of you too, Kakuzu." He gave a gratuitous smile, and the redhead noticed the taller man's shoulders relax.

"Hmm…Yes." The banker agreed in a quieter voice, an air of finality ringing through the tone. He was prompting Sasori to move swiftly on from dissecting his thoughts, the way that his best friend was expert at.
The puppeteer, realising he had hit the nail on the head, gave Kakuzu a small smile in return.

Meanwhile at the bar, the blond and silver haired man were talking rapidly. They had piled up against the counter, as it began to heave with people. Hidan was wearing tight trousers, they had a leather style sheen rippled the lights from overhead. The younger men were generating attention as their energy radiated.

"He is even beefier than the pics do justice, un." The blond remarked, complimenting Hidan on this first in person meeting of his fiancé. Deidara's voice was husky with the beer.
"You think that's girth, you haven't even seen his dick yet—" With Hidan's response, the sculptor snorted and clutched his side. He bumped into a person to the right of them, also waiting to be served.

"Ahh-my bad." He threw out. The other person, a taller, darker hair man didn't take offence.
Within minutes, this person's group had joined with Deidara and Hidan. "What's with the outfits?" One of them chided.

Deidara caught their attention flit from his exposed waist to Hidan's ass, the latter's figure being nicely accentuated by the tightness of his jeans.

"Do you fucking mind - we're talking here!" The Jashinist spat out in response.
However, Deidara had a devilish idea.

He placed the tip of his thumb to his lips, nibbling on it as he locked eyes with the dark haired man.
"Just a couple of guys, out to get laid, un." His voice rose a couple of octaves, as he set the bait.
In hardly no time, Hidan and Deidara had them eating of their palms.

Deidara and Hidan had been able to perch on the bar stools, as their voices began to carry louder, bouncing off each other's enlivened energy.

"You never fucking change." Hidan lambasted, yet his eyes shone. He clinked his glass roughly with the blond. Deidara placed a palm against his chest, and returned a mock-hurt face at his best friend. "What, me? I don't know what you mean, un. Besides, I'm not the one getting married." He then gave the Jashinist a toothy grin as their new 'friends' bought another round of drinks from them.

Time had passed on; Sasori became aware the younger two had not returned back to the table. Irked, he peered over the top of the booth and saw Deidara and Hidan lounging at the bar area. His grey eyes followed them; as the bar staff were busy further down the long bar front, Hidan had slammed his hand on the counter and quickly swiped a steak knife. The puppeteer eyes widened, as he looked aghast at Kakuzu. The banker, with barely a glance backwards at his fiancé, merely gave a half-shrug and sipped his beer.

Unbelievable!
The redhead wanted to look away, yet he was pulled in with a horrified transfixion.
Hidan spun the knife in long, slender fingers. He intimated something that Sasori couldn't quite hear to one of the guys fawning over him at the bar. The puppeteer got the gist though; he was going to stab the gaps between in each finger. He rested his palm against beer mats to avoid slicing into the bar itself.

Hidan went first - he was rapid. Sasori's mouth fell slack as he watched Hidan expertly miss his fingers each time, going faster and faster, until the Jashinist pulled up abruptly, the knife an inch from his competitor's eye.
The redhead didn't need to watch any more to realise there was no way the other people would beat Hidan.
He exhaled unsteadily and turned back. The puppeteer tried to engage in more conversation with Kakuzu, yet his mind felt unsettled, clouded.

Kakuzu left to go the bathroom. Unable to dampen this odd curiosity, Sasori couldn't resist glaring back at the bar. Hidan was enjoying the spoil of war; his poor opponent had a bloody hand wrapped in a napkin as the younger man sloshed his newly won beer around.

He spotted Deidara was posing, leaning up against the seat. The blond reached over, taking into someone's ear.
The redhead felt a torrid squeeze in his middle. Despite the fact Hidan had damn near swiped someone's artery open, the blond's behaviour bothered him more. The blond was being obvious with his fake flattery. It made Sasori feel sickened.

He was staring still when Deidara happened to turn his head, back towards their booth. The two artist's eyes locked for an instant.
A frantic pull twanged in Sasori's middle. Moved with furore, the puppeteer span backwards in his seat.

The sculptor realised it was time to call time on this fortuitous exchange. He extracted himself from the current conversation, Hidan and he chatting as they made their way back up the stairs.

Hidan gave Kakuzu an ecstatic grin as he shunted up the booth to join him. "D'ya miss me, old git?" His lips inviting. He had a surge of arousal, possibly helped along by the relaxing effect of the alcohol.

That left Deidara to slip in besides Sasori. The body language could not have been more contrasting; the puppeteer sat bolt upright, tensing as if contact with Deidara's skin would be corrosive.
The blond for his part hunched forwards, clutching his glass as he continued cackling with Hidan.

Later, there was a lull in conversation as Hidan and Kakuzu stood up to get one final round of drinks from the bar. As they walked away, Kakuzu gripped Hidan's hip firmly, yanking against his body tight.
"I see that you employed your means." Kakuzu growled in his ear. The sensation, almost wet breath against his skin made Hidan want to fuck the old bastard right then and there.
He backed up onto Kakuzu's body as they waited at the bar; pushing his asscheeks against the taller man's crotch. The banker stifled a grunt of pleasure.
"Of fucking course~" The Jashinist replied. Kakuzu was not jealous in the slightest of his fiancé flirting at the bar; the senior man was no fool. He knew in his core when Hidan was serious - an almost animalistic shift in his mannerism would occur. If anything, he was rather proud his fiancé had managed to get so many free drinks from these pitiful losers.

Back in the booth, it was a different story.
Deidara checked his phone as Sasori resumed his stony silence. If anything, the puppeteer was even more annoyed the blond was nonchalant.

The redhead was rankled; where he had started the night feeling actually quite relaxed, now he felt exhausted. They hadn't even made firm plans for tomorrow's suit shopping. Ever one for meticulous detail, Sasori was anxious to get as much of the wedding decisions ironed out this weekend whilst they were together.
The puppeteer didn't even want this last beer, yet didn't have means to get into the flat without either Hidan or Kakuzu, and so was stuck here.

"You still on this planet, un?" The sculptor chided, jarring his thoughts.
"Hmph." The redhead just snorted back.

"Something funny, un?" The blond's tone darkened slightly. Now, finally, he picked up on Sasori's disdain.

"I don't get you, Deidara. I don't understand why you parade yourself around the way you do - it's infuriating to be around." The redhead took an angry glug on his beer. The blond was satisfied when it fizzed back in the elder man's mouth, causing the puppeteer to splutter.

The sculptor's jaw tensed, and then slowly relaxed again as Deidara studied his neighbour.
Sasori was indeed as uppity as he feared.

"I don't need to explain myself yourself to you, Sasori." The blond leant to one side, shifting so he was facing the redhead directly. He saw the twitch of the puppeteer's legs and the elder man shuffled, ever so slightly, to mirror his movement.

"I know I am happier than you, un."

Sasori took in the deepness of the sculptor's eyes as he let the words tumble around him.
Eurgh. His face reddened. Damn alcohol; he was slower in his response, unable to think of a worthy put down to the blond's allegation.
Instead, he simmered, his eyes a picture of malice.

"Maybe don't be so quick to judge people, un." Deidara placed his hand on his knee as he leant into the angle. "Careful - people could cast aspersions about you, too."

When the foursome finally left the bar, Sasori and Deidara followed their friends a few paces behind, the tension radiating between the two artists.

...

The puppeteer's eyes felt like were screeching against the light of the flat as he readied his things. His body ached with tiredness - they had stayed up until the small hours.

Kakuzu had sorted out the pull out bed in the living room. Hidan and Deidara were in the kitchen, demolishing grilled cheese sandwiches. Sasori had no appetite. He bade goodnight to Kakuzu and lay back on the sofa bed.

He half-wanted to push the blond out completely, let him sleep on the sofa instead.

The puppeteer's brain missed a few moments of coherent thought.
Deidara's expression, that direct manner, all swam in his mind's eye.
Alright. Perhaps that action would be too mean…

He closed his eyes, trying to shut out thoughts of the sculptor.
The blond's comments had gotten under skin. Perhaps…
Perhaps there was a grain of truth to what Deidara had said.
He was probably happier than Sasori was; he certainly seemed pretty content and self-assured.

Unsure how to feel about that, Sasori turned on his side, his breathing heavy. He decided in the end, to not take up all of the space of the bed. The redhead rationalised it was because he had already found a comfy groove…not that he had ultimately decided against letting Deidara sleep on the couch with no covers.

Even though the light was still blaring overhead, the redhead was dozing by the time the blond came into the lounge. Hidan went into the bedroom to join Kakuzu, and finally there was silence. The change in noise caused Sasori to stir.

The redhead eyes were blurry; he half-sat up. Hair at the back of his head was fluffy, already mussed up from laying down.

It was something Deidara noticed as he locked eyes with Sasori, not for the first time that night.
It happened just as the blond had slipped off his jeans and shirt and was getting into his pyjama bottoms. Right now, he was naked, save for holding the PJ shorts right in front of his crotch.

"Well - hey." The blond's voice was wavering with trying to keep himself from laughing. He wasn't completely successful; he burst forth a trickle of laughter at the startled, owlish look Sasori threw right back at him.

"Ah - I thought you were already asleep, un."

Sasori could barely think, save for the notion that despite standing there in front of him completely naked, Deidara wasn't immediately rushing to put his pants on. Nope - the younger man just clutched them in front of his junk. What a surreal, surreal night.
He had seen an awful lot of Deidara, character and now body, tonight.

The puppeteer took a hot minute to respond. A jarring shake of his head followed.
Deidara chuckled, and licked against the side of his lips, trying to regain some moisture.

"Uh…can I join you in there, un?" He was still naked.

Now Sasori really didn't know how to respond.