The unlikeliest miracle has happened and this fic finally got finished!
I'm not even sure what I have to say about this. Kind of distracted by the damn ache in my stomach. But it's been a wild ride, I guess?
Most probably not one of my BEST works, but I've enjoyed it nevertheless, and hope the readers have, too.
For those of you that don't stalk my profile (idk y u wudnt do that), I added this section "Soundtracks to stories" there, where I write down the song that most characterize the story/its characters and/or provided inspiration for them.
For this story they're the following:
Whore by In This Moment (mostly for Dei)
Killing Loneliness by H.I.M. (mostly for Sassy)
Sex hat keine Macht (Sex has no power) by Oomph!
They're really good songs for one, plus my taste is music is obviously superior to everyone's, so you might as well check them out cx
Buuut enough chit-chat, here goes the very un-epilogue-ish epilogue that does everything that an epilogue shouldn't do (such as introducing new charas and being lengthier than almost all previous chaps) but still kind of manages to wrap the story up:
Epilogue
2 months later
When Deidara opened the door to his room, the first thing he noticed was Sasori sitting on the bed in his room with a book in hand. It wasn't unusual for Sasori to show up uninvited anymore, as he claimed to prefer Deidara's room over his own due to "less disturbance" that allowed him to read in peace. Deidara never bothered prying into it to find out whether there was more to it; there probably was, but if Deidara had anything to do with Sasori's preference for this room, it was certain Sasori would have never admitted it.
Deidara didn't need him to admit it. He'd gained enough confidence to be assured of his own attractiveness, both physical and mental, that kept Sasori close to him. Hence, he normally left his dorm room unlocked. It wasn't like anyone was foolish enough to break into an S-rank student's room anyway.
It was a Friday evening. Deidara had never been one to do his homework before the last night, so his textbooks lay in an unorganized stack on his desk where he'd dropped them off after the last lesson. Next to the stack was an unfinished sketch that Deidara picked up along with a pencil and the book it lay on. Wordlessly he nudged for Sasori to move his legs and make room for him, and sat down on the opposite end of the bed, got comfortable and proceeded with his sketch.
The silence with only the slight scratching sound of pencil against paper to disturb it lasted until Sasori finally picked up the bookmark next to him and set it between the pages before closing the book.
Deidara didn't glance up from his sketch, but let his hand continue working as he asked, "What's the weather for tonight?" He hardly noticed the hellhole slang creeping into his own vocabulary anymore; it had just become another part of his life, just like living in the reform school was. Weather was used to describe overall plans, mood or social atmosphere at a given time or a given place.
Sasori closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. "I should drop by at some point, or else they'll come looking for me here."
It was the regular Friday evening "party" or a simple social gathering in the room Sasori shared with Itachi and Pein. It had only been a month ago or so that Deidara had realized that if given another place to stay - such as the blond's room - Sasori preferred staying away from his room on Friday evenings.
"There's this new kid, A-rank, in my chem that kept bugging me about the party and if I was going to show up," Deidara broached.
"I've told you associating with lower ranks is only hassle," Sasori commented. "You've another looking for a bodyguard."
"Honestly, I don't think he has any need for a bodyguard," Deidara said. "He's creepy as fuck, like the kind you'd expect to hide tentacle porn under their mattress."
Sasori snorted.
Deidara caught the hidden mockery in the response. He stopped drawing and looked up at the redhead that appeared half-asleep against the wall. He nudged his leg with his foot. "I swear it's not just me. Dude actually used "So, what're your kinks?" as an ice-breaker," he said with a laugh.
"Tell me more about that conversation."
Deidara rolled his eyes. "I've like four kinks in my neck, that's honestly it."
The corner of Sasori's mouth twitched momentarily upwards.
"That's what I told him anyway," Deidara chuckled and cocked his head to one side, rubbing his neck. "It isn't even a joke, though, my neck's been killing me recently."
"Guess we'll drop by later then. You've a charmer waiting for you there."
"Right," Deidara decided to end the topic there. "By the by, I came across an interesting quote the other day. Wanna hear? It's quite confusing, I had to read it many times before I actually got it." The sketch lay all but forgotten on Deidara's lap by then while the pencil was still tightly gripped in his hand as he motioned with it while speaking.
"Go ahead," Sasori said.
"Okay," Deidara paused, his expression fully concentrated as he tried to remember. "I don't remember the author, but it went something like If there were no eternal consciousness in a man, if at the foundation of all there lay only a wildly seething power which writhing in obscure passions produced everything that is great and everything that is insignificant, if a bottomless void never satiated lay hidden beneath it all - what then would life be but despair?"
This time Sasori cracked open an eye to look at the blond.
"You memorized all of that?" A surprised eyebrow rose on the redhead's face.
Deidara laughed. "I just found it so strange, I wanted to understand it, so I read it over and over until it got stuck in my head."
"Did you figure it out then?" Sasori's tone was only mildly interested and Deidara knew that if he started a discussion on the quote, it would mainly be one-sided with minimal input from Sasori - but Deidara started it anyway, since he considered the redhead's silent listening as participation in another form.
"I'm not sure, but I've my own interpretation. At first I thought it was criticizing the belief in God, the wildly seething power that is the foundation of everything and makes up everything, basically saying that this belief would make life despair.
"At first I didn't really get what the eternal consciousness was. Consciousness as the control of one's own thoughts, I guess? As opposed to those thoughts being controlled by a higher power. But it was the word eternal that got me thinking that maybe it's got something to do with rebirth - so the consciousness of a man stays throughout reincarnation, even as the body changes.
"From that perspective, the bottomless void I thought could be hell that fits all souls into it, kind of goes with the belief in God theory. But it could also be nothing after death, you know? So the quote is basically pro the reincarnation theory and anti single God belief."
There was a pause, which under normal circumstances would have been filled with the opinion of the other participant of the discussion, but in this case was silent as Deidara allowed both Sasori and himself to process the thought.
"I found it really interesting and it kind of gave me inspiration for a painting," Deidara continued with the tip of his pencil on his lips and look thoughtful. "I'm still working on the idea, though, since I feel like it isn't complete yet. The quote doesn't feel complete to me."
"Why's it not complete?" Sasori asked, eying the changes of expressions on the blond's face as he seemed to completely zone out at some point.
Deidara shrugged, returning to Earth from his thoughts. He stretched his neck to the sides and went about massaging one spot. "I don't really get why a bottomless void would make life a despair," he said. "It more makes me think of free fall and freedom than negative connotations."
"Perhaps it makes life seem like a lost cause," Sasori suggested, "since in the end it's all lost in the void."
Deidara shook his head. "I don't think void means lost," he argued. "It's more like free. Life's a struggle for whoever's going through it and in the void they could finally rest."
A slight frown settled on Sasori's face as he mulled over the matter. "But why even struggle through anything, if afterwards you get lost anyway?" he asked, not quite convinced by the younger male's argument. "Shouldn't a soul be able to go on for eternity for life to have meaning to it?"
"Eternity sounds so strenuous, I really wouldn't want my soul to be kept on duty for that long. I'd like myself to live a fleeting yet meaningful life and then be given some rest."
Sasori rolled his eyes. "How's your fleeting yet meaningful life working out in this hellhole?" he mocked. "You sure you wouldn't like to trade it for long-lasting and chances to do better in another lifetime?"
A look of wistfulness crossed Deidara's face. "Not really," he said with a musing half-smile. "I'd say I'm content actually. Sure, spending high school here isn't the perfect scenario for anyone, but I don't believe in perfect scenarios. There's always something bad, just like there's good in every scenario. And I'm pretty content with what I've been given." A sly smirk made its way to his face as he put his legs over Sasori's so that the foot reached the redhead's lap and looked straight into the brown eyes. "I think even with my past, one lifetime is long enough if you leave what's behind you, behind. You taught me that, Danna."
Sasori huffed half-heartedly and pushed the blond's foot off his lap. "I don't recall teaching you any of that fleeting bullshit, brat. I agree with the author of the quote. Living just to end up in a limbo would really make life a despair and in essence pointless."
"Your optimism is charming as ever," Deidara quipped, the smile turning into a grimace as he moved his head and another jolt of pain went through his neck. He cocked his head to the side and brought his hand up to massage the spot. "Hey, you mind massaging my neck for a bit? I swear if this gets any worse, I won't be able to fall asleep."
Sasori raised an eyebrow but didn't respond as Deidara shifted himself on the bed and moved over to his lap, brushing his long hair out of the way and baring his neck. Sasori set his book aside and started rubbing the other male's neck with his thumbs, kneading through the tense muscle knots that had formed there.
"Ohhh," Deidara let out a low moan as the redhead's firm hands massaged his neck, rubbing the sensitive spots near his shoulders. "People that've never dated an artisan don't know what they're missing out on. I keep finding out new things that those fingers can do."
Sasori snorted and a small smirk crossed his lips as he continued working on the blond's neck. It was only when a knock sounded on the door that he stopped and looked up, briefly glancing at the clock on the wall.
7 p.m.
Sasori frowned. He hadn't thought Pein would come looking for him that early.
Deidara looked up as well and raised an eyebrow. "You expecting anyone?" he asked, despite knowing the answer, as he left Sasori's lap and crossed the room to the door. He opened it and felt his lower eyelid twitch when seeing the person behind it.
It was a rather tall and lean guy from rank A with bare bony shoulders that along with the dark circles around his caved in eyes gave him a malnourished and chain smoker's look. Deidara cringed on the inside and tried to prevent it from showing on his face.
"Uh, hey, kid," he greeted casually, despite the guy being a good dozen centimetres taller than him. "'Sup."
The guy gave him a sheepish look and motioned with his left hand while explaining, "Oh, I was just dropping by, since you said you'd be at the party and I didn't see you there so I just came here."
"Uhh, yeaah," Deidara drawled with slight discomfort. "We were just getting ready, will be there in a few- " He jerked his thumb behind his back, mimicking the other's awkward hand motions.
"We?" the guy interrupted.
Deidara blinked. "Uh, yeah. Me and Sasori." He shifted his body to the side a bit, revealing the redhead still seated on the bed.
The guy's expression went blank for a bit.
"Oh," he muttered. "Sorry, if I interrupted anything."
Deidara mentally rolled his eyes. He was well aware of the guy being way off with his assumptions, but didn't bother to correct him.
"Yeah, well, see you, alright?" Deidara said with a strained smile before closing the door on him. He let out a loud sigh and went to plop down on the bed.
Sasori could hear the muffled words "fucking creep" from the pillow Deidara had buried his face in.
He heaved a sigh and got up from the bed, putting away his book on the desk. "Might as well get this evening over with then."
Another not-so-muffled groan sounded from the pillow.
-x-
Sasori and Deidara arrived when the blood drops on the floor from Hidan's ritual had been completely smeared out by the numerous feet that had walked over them. This was one of the conditions for Deidara to come - the first time seeing Hidan's ritual had been enough to last him a lifetime.
Deidara had already disappeared into the crowd when Sasori was greeted by hard pats on his back by Pein who guided him over to the corner where the other S-ranks (besides Hidan) resided.
"You actually made it!" Pein said with exaggerated surprise. "Thought you'd officially moved in with Blondie already." He gave the redhead a push so that the latter plopped down on his bed, wedged between Kakuzu and Konan, and handed him a can of beer.
Sasori opened it wordlessly, ignoring the meaningful looks his rank-mates were sending him. He was somewhat aware of the disapproval in their eyes that he'd earned by repeatedly choosing Deidara's company over theirs, but he couldn't say he really cared. It wasn't like he had completely abandoned them, either. He was there, wasn't he?
"Someone remind me again, how the fuck did those two end up together?" Tayuya put in.
"Bitch's asking the right questions for once," Konan said. "Weren't they at each other's throats not so long ago?"
Sasori shrugged. "Brat wouldn't leave me alone, is all."
Pein laughed. "Pretty sure there's a bit more moaning and grinding to it, but we don't mind being spared of the details."
It wasn't hard to guess that that was the impression any relationship of his would have left, given his personal history - but Sasori was not bothered by it. It was true that sex was what had first made up his mind on his relationship with Deidara, but as time had gone on, the blond's proximity had become more preferable to solitude even without the intimate touch.
There was just something to Deidara's vibrant being that drew him closer. The blond talked a lot, but what he said often captivated Sasori and gave more food to thought than he would have had alone.
Deidara was also very adaptive. He seemed to have no problem with the harshness Sasori sometimes exhibited and hadn't brought up the topic of their pasts ever since it had last been mentioned before their week-long punishment.
It was not like Sasori was going to explain any of this to his rank-mates, though. They could think what they wanted and it didn't make any difference.
Sasori hadn't noticed when the conversation topic had changed from him to something else and didn't keep track of the new topic, either, but rather focused on his own thoughts.
Times like that, when he would completely drift away from reality and get lost in his own mind in the middle of a group conversation, which he more often than not deemed too boring to concern himself with, had become rare after Deidara had invaded his life. It was like Deidara always found a way to engage him in whatever was going on around them; in a way the blond was his bridge to reality, only he managed to make it so that even when entering reality Sasori wasn't forced to leave his comfort zone.
It was only after Sasori had experienced it, that he realized how much he appreciated it. He could have lived without it, it wasn't a necessity - but he preferred to be with it.
It wasn't long before Deidara joined the group and, somewhat hastily, made his way into Sasori's lap, bringing the redhead's surroundings back into focus.
Sasori blinked and looked up at once at the blond straddling his legs and, with hands resting limply against his sides. Blond fringe shielding his face like a curtain from others, Deidara leaned closer until his face was almost touching Sasori's shoulder, and whispered, "The nutter is driving me the same flavor of Nutella as he is."
Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Did you come here for protection?" The mockery was obvious in his voice.
Deidara barked a humorless laugh and straightened up. "No," he said, holding up his chin in a way that stated he had enough pride to keep him from stooping as low as to looking for a bodyguard. "I came here because I knew he'd follow me and then he'd annoy you, too."
As if on cue, the guy Sasori recognized as the one that had come knocking on Deidara's door before made his way into the S-rank group, seemingly oblivious of how much of an outcast his A-rank clothes made him. The conversation quieted simultaneously with the guy's final step as he came to a halt and let his gaze run over the small clique before fixing his eyes solely on Deidara.
The blond twisted around on Sasori's lap and with a strained smile said, "Everyone, this is Sai."
The look of disinterest was almost unique on every one of the seven faces in the group. Tayuya was the first to make a sound as she snorted. "What's this fucker want here? Don't tell me this is your fucking side ho."
Sai smiled sheepishly, which was an inappropriate enough reaction to earn him some raised eyebrows. "Side ho, ha, that's a good one," he said in a tone that left it unclear whether he was joking or not. "Actually, speaking of side hoes, Deidara, has your cathouse shut down already?"
Deidara, and probably others, too, waited for an elaboration on the question, but the queer smile on the sickly pale face stayed in place without words for a long enough time that Deidara had to ask, "What fucking cathouse?"
Sai shrugged. "I'd just heard that you kept jumping from guy to guy and seeing as you're currently so clung on Sasori, who indubitably does nothing but one night stands, I was wondering when he'd finally let you off so I could maybe rent you myself."
The statement was followed by a fit of obnoxious laughter, which Deidara was the only one to join in with. They laughed together for a solid half-minute, the blond's reaction spreading confusion among the group and raising the question whether there was an unlikely inside joke none of the others were getting.
It only took Deidara a split-second to go from laughing to a fully serious expression. "You couldn't afford me," he cut Sai's laughter sharply and looked him in the eye as the latter quieted. He gave Sai a second to take the sentence in, and seeing realization register on the guy's face, he popped the B with his lips as he added, "Bitch."
Deidara turned back to Sasori, saying quietly, "I'm heading back. Enjoy your stay." He got up and left the room without another word.
-x-
Deidara was alone in the washing room with a towel around his neck, brushing his teeth over one of the sinks when he heard the door opening. He raised his gaze and saw from the mirror reflection the one person he really did not want to see anymore enter.
With an internal sigh he spit out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth. It looked like it was time to leave.
He dried his mouth with the end of the towel and grabbed his toothpaste and -brush, and turned to go. He kept his gaze in front of him to avoid unnecessary eye contact and shouldered into the figure that had frozen in his way.
Bitch, Deidara thought and rolled his eyes, fixing his gaze on the door two meters away.
A split-second later a fist caught him in the cheek, sending him stumbling off his course. He swirled around the moment he regained his balance, hand grasping the hurting spot, and sent Sai a bewildered gaze.
"The fuck's your problem man?!" he shouted.
Sai was standing in the middle of the room with an expressionless face that was impossible to read. Combined with his actions it made him seem like a psychopath to Deidara, and more so than he was used to.
"You're my problem, I guess," he said. "Every time I see you, I just feel like locking you up, handcuffing you to a bed, maybe after a few whips-"
"ALRIGHT!" Deidara shouted. "Forget I asked! I really don't want to know actually."
Sai chuckled and cocked his head to one side. He took a step closer and kept following as Deidara backed up against the wall. His hand ran up the blond's shirt and gripped the fabric tight., bringing him closer to his face.
"Imagine that, I've finally got you all alone." Sai's smile was calm and dreamy, as though he wasn't fully focused on reality, belying the tone of his voice, which turned into a snarl. "And now you don't have your redhead here to protect you, either."
Deidara countered with a faked smile. "Sasori always did say he wouldn't be here for me at times like this," he said, placing his hand on top of Sai's in an unnoticeable manner. "That's why he taught me this." With a poke of the thumb beneath the knuckles, Deidara pulled the other's hand off his shirt and bent it forwards at a right angle before twisting it to the side in a sharp move. A crack sounded in the room and Sai was on his back on the floor moaning in pain over his broken wrist.
"Next time it'll be your neck."
The door slammed closed behind Deidara.
-x-
The desk lamp was lit in his room when Deidara entered, casting dim light around the room. Sasori was lying on the bed in a black T-shirt and sweatpants, which confirmed what Deidara could have guessed already before that he was staying the night again. Sasori's eyes were closed, but Deidara knew him not to be asleep. He could rarely fall asleep before midnight, that much he'd learnt from all the time spent with him.
Deidara closed the door and walked over to the small mirror on his wardrobe to check out the damage his face had received. The bed creaked as Sasori got up, but Deidara's attention was on the small wound beneath his cheekbone left by Sai's thumb and the drop of blood that had run down his cheek from it.
Deidara growled, "Someone should cut that freak's nails."
Sasori walked up quietly behind the blond and twirled him around with hands on his hips.
"Again you kept me waiting," he stated with a frown, cocking his head to one side as he eyes the blood and reddening bruise on the Deidara's cheek. He gripped the blond's chin and turned it to the side to take a better look. His eyebrows furrowed deeper. "And failed to utilise my instructions."
"I did break his wrist," Deidara defended with a pout. "I haven't had as much practice as you."
With a tender kiss Sasori sucked away the blood drop and ran his tongue across the wound. His lips slid across the skin closer to his ear, and he whispered, "Next time make it quicker." He tugged Deidara closer with one finger through his belt loop and grinds their hips together.
"Yes, Danna," Deidara breathed a moment before they smash their lips together.
Deidara's eyes closed instantly and he opened up his mouth for Sasori's tongue. Sasori slid in, eagerly devouring the other. Their tongues mingled and Deidara's hands crawled up Sasori's clothed chest before looping around him and pulling him even closer.
Sasori's hand travelled around the curve of Deidara's hip, groping his ass and squeezing one of the cheeks. Deidara moaned into the kiss as he feels Sasori's hand slid up and down again past the hem of his pants and beneath the cloth.
They broke the kiss for air, their lips still almost touching. Deidara could hear his own breaths fastening as he gazed into Sasori's half-lidded eyes. The lustful and dominant look in those them alone was enough to send blood rushing into his lower regions, but combined with Sasori's hands roaming around on his body as they wished made him lose all will of self-control.
He obliged wordlessly as Sasori pulled him onto his lap on the bed and let his shirt be removed and tossed aside. Their lips were in constant contact even as Sasori unzipped his pants and pushed his hips up so the pants could be pulled down.
It took little time for Sasori to lubricate his fingers and push them into Deidara's entrance, eliciting a loud moan from the latter. His lips moved away from Deidara's mouth to give way to the pleasurable sounds and proceed to the pale long neck, leaving a long trail of hickeys.
Sasori's fingers worked fast inside the blond, skilfully undoing his mind and receiving more and more moans. He could feel the other's member rubbing against his shirt and could only imagine the things the friction was doing to the blond.
Deidara's back arched as he cried out, "Sasori-" and came all over their stomachs, falling limp on Sasori's shoulder.
A quiet laugh sounded from the crook of Sasori's neck where Deidara had buried his face as both of them eye the mess the redhead's black shirt had become.
"Should've seen that coming," Deidara quipped.
Sasori pushed the blond off his shoulder to remove the stained shirt. He tossed it onto the ground on top of Deidara's.
"Since we're doing laundry anyway, I won't need to worry about making more of a mess as I fuck you senseless against the wall."
Deidara's eyes widened the slightest bit before he was already pushed off the redhead's lap and, on his knees, on the bed against the wall, with Sasori's arms on both sides restricting his movement.
He could feel Sasori's bare torso against his back right after the redhead had pushed down his own pants. A pair of lips planted a kiss on his neck before Sasori entered him and pushed fully in.
"Ahh-" Deidara cried out, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt himself becoming completely full with Sasori's cock stretching his well-lubricated hole. Right after Sasori slid out again, only to slam back in, and started rocking back and forth.
Deidara's torso was pressed against the cold wall and rubbing against it. He pressed one side of his face against the cold surface, half-lidded eyes finding Sasori's face.
Beads of sweat had begun to form on Sasori's forehead and an eerie smile crossed his face as he made eye contact with Deidara. His eyes then found his lips, so full and inviting, and rested on them as he came to a brief halt buried deep inside Deidara.
"Shit, I might actually love you," Sasori muttered almost inaudibly before he dove in and caught Deidara's lower lip between his teeth.
Deidara let out another moan as Sasori slid out and continued the rough pace.
"Shit, your cock feels so good, Danna," Deidara groaned and felt Sasori bite down on his shoulder. He'd be covered in red marks by morning, that was for sure. The bed was creaking loudly beneath them and his member was ready to burst, the few times it brushed against the wall, reminding him of his ever growing urge.
"T-ah-touch me, Danna-" he begged, his mind so fogged that it was a matter of seconds before he'd reach his climax.
Sasori gripped his cock tightly and started pumping it; it wasn't long before Deidara melted between his arms and came all over his hand. Sasori gave a few last thrusts before coming as well. With heavy breathing, his eyes closed and he leaned against Deidara's bare back, allowing his breathing to slow down. His hand travelled up Deidara's stomach and halted on his chest, feeling it rise and fall at an even pace and trying to match his own to the rhythm.
Deidara's lips were stretched out in a blissful smile. The cold wall surface against his forehead did well at balancing the heat from Sasori's body wrapped around him. It was completely silent in the room with only the sound of their breaths disturbing the silence. He could have stayed like that for the rest of the night.
It was when the sticky liquid ran down onto Sasori's lap that he snorted a half-chuckle and planted a kiss on Deidara's shoulder before pulling out and shifting over in bed. "I believe a proper shower is called for."
-x-
It was about an half-hour to midnight that the duo lay in bed, Deidara's head resting on top of Sasori's chest. It was dark in the room, only the moonlight coming from the small window beside the desk cast shadows on the wall that Deidara found fascinating to observe. Lying like that in silence was one of Deidara's favourite parts of the day, second to only... the obvious.
"I want to visit a shadow theatre when we get out of here," he said thoughtfully, watching the shadows shimmer on the wall as the wind swayed the branches of trees outside the window.
Sasori lay with his eyes closed. "We could."
Deidara's eyes widened, but didn't shift from the wall as shiver ran through him, the source lying in Sasori's use of words.
"We?" he parroted with pretence casualness. It was the first time they had ever mentioned their future after graduation. Deidara had always, maybe partly subconsciously, avoided the topic as he was not sure Sasori's thoughts on the matter would have pleased him. He preferred living in the present, it caused less worries.
"You were planning on running away from me after graduation?" Sasori made sure to make the mockery obvious in his tone, but it didn't manage to hide all notes of unease.
Deidara chuckled nervously, the sound seemed forced. "Not really, no. I kinda always figured you'd have your own plans that don't necessarily include me."
"Hm" was all Deidara got as a response. He frowned. Helpful, really, now that they'd finally reached the inevitable topic.
"I mean, I only really know you in school, you know?" Deidara said. "I've almost no clue of your world outside this building. I know nothing about your family, your friends, pets even." He added after a thoughtful pause, "Although you don't really seem like the pet kind of person."
"I've you, don't I?" Sasori responded.
"Har har," Deidara said with an eye roll, feeling the tension in the atmosphere alleviate for a moment.
Sasori sighed, as though the burden of one joke was too much to bear. "I'm not much different outside than I am here," he said. "I used to live with my uncle, but I'm not going back there."
"Why?" Deidara's voice was merely a whisper.
Another sigh. "A relative that frames you using the unfortunate accident of their mother to get rid of you so they could spend your money on heroine isn't really a person you'd like to go back to, is it?"
"I thought you said no background stories," Deidara said.
"Figured you might stay with me a while longer, if I compromise."
"I believe I just might, Danna."
The hands of the clock passed midnight, bringing along the embrace of sleep. Deidara nuzzled against Sasori's neck and dozed off with a peaceful smile. Death could bring along whatever it wanted, be it limbo or rebirth, Deidara would be able to face it with certainty that he has taken the most from life.
THE END