Sorry for the wait…as I said, I was in Sydney. Very tiring. I was in a car for 12 hours. And I got lost in the shopping centre/ shopping mall/ whatever you want to call them. But what has that got to do with anything? Enjoy the new chapter.


Deidara glared at Hidan, decidedly miffed at his sudden push. He watched as Hidan took over, and, surprisingly, he was adept at washing dishes. Deidara was much too confused to say anything, so instead pulled himself up and sat on top of the kitchen counter opposite the sink.

Neither of them said anything for a while: immediately after pushing Deidara away and offering to do the dishes, his entire face and neck area had heated up and now he felt literally weak all over. He had to basically force himself to slow down his breathing.

"Hidan…," Deidara looked at his suspiciously. "What the hell is up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Hidan gave a weak laugh and felt his heart thud violently against his chest.

"Since when did Jashinism request and promote maternal behaviours from its followers?"

"I'm just being nice," Hidan grabbed the large tea towel from its hook and wiped his wet hands on it.

"Right," Deidara said. "Since when did Jashinism promote that either?"

Hidan shrugged. He crossed his arms, which were beginning to grow shaky and turned to look at Deidara, who was looking at him with a mixture of puzzlement and amusement.

"So…," he began a bit shakily. "About that other time…,"

Hidan swallowed, recalling when he and Deidara shared that weirdly…tender kiss. He knew it was kind of a sore subject, especially since Deidara had reacted so negatively to it. Hidan wondered if he would elicit the same results if he did it again…now.

"I'm sorry,"

"That's okay," Deidara answered quickly, reddening slightly. "I got over it,"

"Really?" Hidan asked, feeling slightly relieved, slightly disappointed. Did that mean that Deidara didn't—wouldn't—want to re-enact that?

Deidara nodded hesitantly, not knowing where this conversation was going or why the topic was even brought up in the first place.

"Everything that comes after Sasori is nothing," he began. "'Not to say it doesn't mean anything…I guess I'm just desensitized to that sort of thing now,"

"But you were really pissed," Hidan interjected.

"Of course I was pissed," Deidara snapped. Hidan cursed himself endlessly until he saw Deidara relax again. "You…,"

The blonde sighed and turned around, his back to Hidan.

"Never mind," he said gloomily. "You, of all people, won't sympathize,"

"I can try," Hidan offered, noticing that he sounded extremely out of character. Even Deidara noticed, because he turned around again and gave Hidan an odd look.

"Hidan," he said. "Swear for me,"

"Why?"

"Just do it,"

"Fuck,"

"That's good," Deidara walked over and patted Hidan on the cheek. His touch was warm and sent a blush across the Jashinist's cheeks, made his pulse increase and provoked a jolt of what felt oddly like electricity up his body. "That's the Hidan I know,"

He laughed a little and backed away again.

"Never do that again," he said.

"What?"

"Don't try to sympathize with me," Deidara said. "That's what I'm saying,"

"What if I want to?"
"Why do you want to? You're…Hidan. You're a Jashinist. You're not...the type/ You're the type to laugh in my face,"

"Is that how you see me?"

Deidara nodded. "Why not? That's the image you've cultivated in this organization. Utterly shameless, a bit of a bully…,"

"Please," Hidan laughed nervously. "I'm not always like that,"

"Bullshit," Deidara spat. "When you…kissed me in my own room? That was shameless. And it was sexual assault,"

Hidan shook his head. "I know. I regret it,"

Actually no, I don't…

"No you don't," Deidara said, as if he had read Hidan's thoughts. "I bet you want to do it again,"

Hidan froze. Shit, shit, shit. He tried to compose himself. What would normal Hidan say?

"Argh," he put a hand to his forehead and looked agitated. "You got me, then. So what? It just means you know that I want to get in your pants,"

"Whatever,"

"But it's not all I want to do," Hidan walked over and took Deidara by both his shoulders. They felt oddly slender beneath his hands and he resisted the urge to pull them in…and inspect them further, say, with his mouth.

Deidara immediately tensed up at Hidan's touch.

"You sure about that?" Deidara asked, somewhat teasingly. "Or are you just trying to gain some affection from me by trying to imply less—,"

"Deidara," Hidan gave his shoulders a little shake. "Shut up, geez. I'm trying to say something here,"

"Oh sorry," Deidara rolled his eyes. "I didn't hear you trying," he said sarcastically. But then he paused and looked at Hidan with genuine seriousness.

"I'm waiting then,"

Hidan put his head down and closed his eyes. He wondered if he was actually going to say it right here, right now. If he was going to let Deidara know that ever since he kissed him in his room and was sent off without so much as an argument that he'd actually felt something other than lust for Deidara. It was the cause of his sudden mysterious behaviour. It was what was making him perpetually spaced out, softening him, making him irresponsive. He had been so un-Hidan lately…and it was all because he had finally felt that…thing. He'd been hit with a serious and unrelenting case of unrequited love ever since that incident. He wanted to kick himself because he knew that if anyone found out that he finally had some sort of a weakness—Deidara—they would pay him out endlessly. It wasn't good to have a weakness. It made you more vulnerable. He had been trying to avoid that, and now…

And Deidara's no-less-than-explosive reaction to Hidan's mouth on his own—for even one second—didn't make Hidan's sleepless nights better. He had lain awake, wondering if Deidara hated him now and it was all his damn fault. The way he'd made that suggestive comment at the table when Deidara was sick, the way he'd just…he was disgusted with himself. He was always so forward, and he couldn't help it. It was just the way he was. And it had landed him in hot water with a person that he actually liked—possibly loved—right now. It wasn't good for him. In the past few days, he had been deep in thought, contemplating his self, having deep and meaningful conversations with himself, asking himself if it was going to be worth it, asking himself if this was the real thing or if he was going to get over it in a month or so.

In the end, he knew he wasn't going to rest peacefully unless he'd told Deidara.

Now or never he thought, glancing up and looking into Deidara's eyes. They gave away nothing.

"You already know that, yeah, I wanna get in your pants, blondie,"

Deidara nodded, a silent urge for Hidan to continue. It was sort of encouraging, and that made Hidan slightly more confident with his venture into the shaky world of love confessions. Deidara seemed to be a bit more comfortable when Hidan was being his normal self, so Hidan decided to let his "bully"-like disposition take over for the next part. He felt the adrenaline pumping around his body and he wondered briefly if it was because he was touching Deidara. His temples were giving him a headache and his heart felt like it was pounding against his ribs, on the verge to break out of its bony enclosure.

"Fuck it," he said under his breath. He leaned forward and kissed Deidara again, the Iwa nin's lips feeling somewhat familiar beneath his own. Deidara, unsurprised, didn't pull back. He didn't pull back or return the kiss. He just stood there and let Hidan do what he wanted to do. He didn't even feel anything. He wasn't disgusted, nor was he suddenly turned on by the change of events. Like he had said before, he was desensitized.

Hidan pulled away slightly to inhale before doing it again. He wanted to make this last as long as possible. He wanted to remember it, even though Deidara wasn't kissing him back. It still felt extremely good. It made his head feel like it was going to explode. He angled his head to the side and tested Deidara's willingness to open his mouth for him. He wasn't going to just stand around and just kiss like this after all. Deidara was initially reluctant but told himself to just fuck it. He didn't know what Hidan was getting at, and he had to admit that it was kind of obvious that Hidan had more to say, but…

He put a hand behind Hidan's head, digging some of his fingers into the Jashinist's silvery hair, and—finally—kissed Hidan back.