Author's Note:
Hi everyone, Maddygirl4932 here! This is just a chapter to establish relationship dynamics, nothing too important aside from a base for their interactions. Everything starts taking an... interesting turn next chapter, as Sasori turns predatory.
That should be fun to write.
Anywho, remember to review and favorite.
Apologies for any spelling errors or grammatical mistakes!
Chapter 2:
Unsurprisingly, Elaine did not go right back to sleep. With a killer in her bedroom, dozing off was near impossible for the neurotic adolescent, so instead, she flocked to safety down in the kitchen and began cooking breakfast. Her father always said the fastest way to a man's heart was through his stomach, and considering that Sasori was human again, she hoped food was also the fastest way to a man's knife because she wanted to get his away from him as soon as possible.
Dragging her sore eyes to the clock above the stove, Elaine couldn't even bring herself to be tired anymore. Here she was at five in the morning, cooking breakfast in hopes of winning over the murderous and fictional character in her bedroom.
God, she must sound like a lunatic.
Turning back to her frying pan, Elaine scraped the scrambled eggs onto a plate with a spatula. Adding the bacon she'd fried earlier and throwing some salt as a final touch, she sat the steaming plate down on the table. Repeating the process for her own plate, Elaine cut off the stove and went upstairs to fetch Sasori.
Sasori was still in her bedroom, probing through anything he could find like some curious animal. As he plucked though her driver's manual, Elaine couldn't help but find it interesting that for someone with such uncaring eyes, he truly possessed an spark for knowledge. Had he not held her at knifepoint only hours before, she might have even laughed at the irony of the situation.
Instead, she cleared her throat. "I... made breakfast…"
The redhead barely look at her, toying with her xbox controller with idle interest. "Eating is pointless."
"Said no one ever. You are going to eat, Sasori." She said definitively, her hands resting on her hips. He wasn't a puppet anymore; eating, drinking and everything else human was now a necessity. Not to mention, she didn't spend all of yesterday reviving him only so he could die from stubbornness and starvation. "NOW."
"You better watch your tone, girl."
But Elaine wouldn't back down. She had witnessed the fear in his eyes; the scratches to prove how hard he was fighting to live running up her arms. It was obvious that Sasori didn't want to die.
He was her patient. Plus, it'd be really lame if Sasori died of starvation in a perfectly stocked house.
"And you," Elaine paused, glaring, "better listen to your doctor."
Why was she defying him?
Eyes raking over her body, Sasori searched as if it held the secret to her defiance. She looked like the average girl, aside from her boyish cut and skin, which happened to be darker than the traditional 'pale-faced beauty'. While her figure sported a slight muscle tone that defined her feminine features, accentuating her small chest and wide hips, she was still vulnerable in comparison to him. Nothing about her supported the illusion that she could defeat him.
In fact, while it was difficult to see under the baseball cap the girl seemed so fond of, Sasori could see the faint hint of a blush staining her face. Typical girl.
He could kill her within seconds; slitting her throat or cutting her into pieces before she could even blink. He could wring her neck out like laundry or break every bone in her body for simple entertainment. If he wanted, he could even destroy her emotionally without touching a hair on her head. He was a ninja and could very well do as he pleased with her…
...and yet some part of him felt refreshed by her determination, or idiocy, depending on who you asked. It wasn't everyday that former-Akatsuki member Sasori was challenged by someone, let alone a civilian.
Sasori narrowed his eyes at her, smirking in amusement, "And what if I don't want to?"
THAT caught Elaine off guard. She had been expecting to get reaquainted with knifey after brashly loudmothing the temperamental redhead, not teased by him!
"Then I won't force you," she replies, walking halfway down the stairs before adding casually, "You'll just die, that's all."
As Elaine made her way back to the kitchen, Sasori followed quietly, thrown off kilter by her bluntness and casualty toward the subject of death. Females, especially civilians, usually sugarcoated their words with buffers and, occasionally, straight out fabrications in order to cushion its meaning.
It appeared that Elaine didn't bother with feelings, and while sometimes hesitant in her speech, didn't beat around the bush or play games when it came to expressing herself clearly.
There were no reading in between the lines, something he could appreciate.
Rounding the corner leading into what he presumed the kitchen, Elaine was already removing a heated plate from the microwave, setting it down on the table. While it had been nearly two decades since his last meal, Sasori could tell the girl was many things- a medic, a pain in the neck, and an idiot- a cook was not one of them.
He sat down at the table, watching his food distrustfully, as though it would climb off his plate. As a Shinobi, he wasn't privileged to exquisite dining. Elaine's cooking, however, took the cake.
Her eggs- if you could call the slimy, untouched mess on his plate that- were partially uncooked and covered in a visible layer of salt while the bacon, black and burnt from her horrible cooking, carried enough grease to soak through and ruin the delicately buttered slices of bread she'd placed on the side of his plate.
"This is inedible," he comments duly, pushing his plate away like a petulant child.
"Apparently not, I'm eating it just fine."
"That speaks much about you, girl," Sasori drawls, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "You would have made an excellent ninja."
Curiosity spiked, she asks, "How so?"
"For someone in your situation, you are awfully levelheaded," the redhead reports, obviously having been observing her. "You aren't very soft... you are direct."
Elaine glances at him in between bites, the subtlety of her jaw tightening being the only sign he'd irritated her. "Thanks... I think. You want cereal or something?"
"As long as you don't touch it," the redhead signed, sliding out from his seat, "Where are the bowls?"
"There," she replies, pointing toward a cabinet to the left of his head. She watches him for a moment as he casually searches through it, a feeling of discontent creeping up on her. "I'm not sure how I feel about you getting comfortable here…"
"You are well aware of my situation. However, so you better understand, we should talk about it while I'm feeling... sociable." Sasori says.
He did seem rather approachable this morning. While having a seizure and waking up in a strange world wasn't a recipe for social butterflies, he was much more tolerable now then when he'd awoken. No knives, uncomfortable silences or prolonged staring.
It was almost comfortable, like old buddies.
It scared her.
"Okay," Elaine said, pushing her finished plate to the side and folding her hands neatly, "Talk to me."