Here is chapter 12, everyone! Please don't hate me too much on the fact that my next upload won't be until either Wednesday or Thursday of this week after reading this one xD Please enjoy and R & R, onegai! ^-^
The next level was just as breathtaking as the first. The windows that flew towards the ceiling below extended and reached above, yet again, the sun casting warm rays against the polished wood flooring that housed a sculpture the size of a charter bus, the slim framework ending in spiked tendrils. Paintings of modern art lined the outside perimeter of the room, the beige, stucco support beams also housing a few pieces.
Sasori was in heaven.
Art had been his passion his entire life, even before his parents died. Something about the random splashes of color, the perfect edges of straight lines, the intricacy in one professional drawing, put him at ease, yet also at wonder with the talent that chose to reveal itself to the world.
"I don't see how this pertains to my creating realistic-looking puppets," Sasori exclaimed, looking at Deidara.
The blonde gazed back at him. "It's in the back of this level, un."
Without explanation, he started moving down the room, heading towards the back, the redhead following in close pursuit.
Sasori hadn't a clue as to what his roommate was actually going to show him. He knew it had to deal with puppets; that much was for certain. But he knew that this particular type of museum wasn't too fond of sharing the art of puppetry, so anything relating to them in the building would astound the older male.
Suddenly, they reached a dark cherry wood door delicately placed along the back wall, its gold-plated knob shining under the bright, fluorescent lighting. When Deidara reached forward, Sasori captured the younger male's outstretched wrist. "Are we allowed to go in there?"
"Is there a sign around it that says we can't, un?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Sasori no Danna, you worry too much, un," the blonde smirked rather mischievously at him before turning the knob and throwing open the door. Feeling a slight blush beginning to form on his cheeks from hearing the nickname used so playfully, Sasori cursed under his breath as he followed his roommate into the room.
The first thing the redhead noticed was a small marionette doll. Hanging from the familiar strings, the porcelain skin shined under the bright lighting overhead, its realistic-looking black hair contrasting with the set of sparkling blue eyes painted on the white face. The Victorian-style dress it was wearing looked to be handmade with fine red and purple silk, the gold trimming delicately sewn on as well.
It was perfection.
Tearing his amber gaze away, Sasori suddenly saw that the entire room was filled with puppets; yet all of them were the marionette ones he, himself, made when he had free time. There were small dolls, medium dolls, dolls that were life-sized and dolls that could fit in someone's hand.
And each and every one of them was made to the perfect epitome of art.
Letting his fingers graze a doll with a black silk suit on, he smiled. "They're beautiful."
"I figured you'd like them, un," Deidara explained from his spot over by the now closed door. He smirked in obvious signs of achievement. "With all those puppet parts you have."
"I'm surprised this museum even has an exhibit for them," the redhead exclaimed. "Puppets aren't exactly people pleasers for most."
"That's why the exhibit hasn't opened yet, un," the blonde said. The puppeteer turned his head to look at his roommate. "So how did you-?"
"I have an 'in' with the art director that runs this museum, un," the younger male explained, the smirk turning into a wide grin. "Family friends with my father. All I had to do was ask to see the exhibit, un."
"That's…amazing."
'You're amazing' is what Sasori really wanted to say. He knew Deidara hated puppets; he hated them with a burning passion. Something about their realism scared the shit out of him. Ever since his encounter with them when they had first both moved into the apartment together, he had asked Sasori to keep them out of sight.
Yet…here he was, standing right in the middle of a soon-to-be opening puppet exhibit, a surprisingly calm demeanor etching his aura. Noticing, the older male smirked. "I'm surprised you're not pissing yourself yet, brat. Thought you hated puppets."
"I do, un. They still give me the creeps," he shrugged his shoulders. "But it's Danna's birthday, so I figured I could make an exception, un."
Feeling his cheeks begin to flush, Sasori whipped his head over to a certain doll that had captured his attention earlier.
It was a life-sized marionette doll, about a foot shorter than he was. Its skin was still the same porcelain white, but what was standing out to him was the long, flowing blonde locks stitched into the head. They ran in golden waves down to the doll's elbows, popping against the red dress that was being worn. The doll had deep blue eyes, yet one of them was nearly covered by the golden river framing the face, almost like –
"The damn art director told me that one looked like me, un," Deidara remarked, slight disgust rounding his voice. "I don't know why, though. I'm not a female, un."
Hearing the words but choosing not to acknowledge them, Sasori gazed into the expressionless blue orbs in front of him, pretending they were his roommate's.
Cerulean blue, with white and purple specs circling around the pupils.
Concentrating harder, the doll's face suddenly morphed. Blinking, he watched the porcelain white start to be invaded with color, the eyes start to grow a light behind them, and white lips become pinker with each passing second.
And before he knew it, he was staring into the eyes of his roommate. The surroundings changed as well. Instead of being in the exhibit, they were back at the apartment, more specifically, Sasori's room. He was hovering over the younger male, staring into a pair of eyes glazed over with lust and desire, the cerulean blue turning a near indigo. Through a half-lidded gaze, he reached his arms up, wrapping them around the older male's neck, breathy moans escaping his mouth as they continued to rock against the silk bed sheets covering the circular mattress. "Ha, D-Danna – mm, I can't – ah! – I can't h-hold on much l-longer, un."
"You're still able to talk, brat?" Sasori asked through gasping breaths, picking up his speed. He must've hit something inside the blonde, because immediately after, said male threw his head back as a near scream shot itself into the air as his body suddenly convulsed and shivered for a few seconds. Sasori didn't give him time to recover before he was suddenly thrusting against that same spot again, driving deeper and harder each time.
"F-Fuck – AH!" Deidara's voice was finally lost in the screams and cries that were filling the room and dancing against the older male's eardrums. Body unconsciously beginning to buck in an attempt to meet each thrust, he began to scream the beloved puppeteer's name.
"Sasori!"
"Louder."
"Sasori!"
"Louder."
"I – ahh – I c-can't…f-fu…AH! SASORI!"
"SASORI, UN!"
Blinking rapidly, the redhead awoke from his daydream, gaze returning to the porcelain face of the marionette doll, glad his growing erection began subsiding on its own. He shook his head as he heard his name being called again. "What is it?"
"Geez, I called your name, like, five times, un," Deidara was now standing beside him, concern lining his smooth face. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," the redhead exclaimed, running a hand through the blonde waves.
They even felt like the brat's hair.
"I guess I can admit that this one, specifically, is nice, un," the blonde went on. "Whoever created it put time in."
"All artists do that, don't they?" Sasori asked, giving his roommate an incredulous stare. "Put time into their work to make it eternal?"
"You think art is eternal, un?"
"Well yeah, don't all-?"
He was cut off by the tiny chuckle emanating from the blonde's lips. He furrowed his brows in curiosity. "What is it, brat?"
"Nothing, it's just…I find it hard to believe you find art eternal, Danna, un."
"You don't believe art is eternal?"
"Nope, un."
"…So what do you think art is, then?"
"Art if fleeting, un."
"Brat, do you really believe that?!" Sasori asked through bouts of laughter. He threw his head back and cackled for a solid 10 seconds before calming himself down long enough to continue. "Please enlighten me as to why you think art is fleeting."
"If I could make my clay sculptures explode, I would, un," the sculptor began. "Art is fleeting, in that it is beautiful in that one perfect moment of transience."
"Then why do art museums like the Louvre in Paris hold paintings like the Mona Lisa, which has withstood the test of time as being one of the single greatest and most popular art pieces in history?"
"Then that isn't art," Deidara crossed his arms over his chest. "Look at life like art, un. None of us on this planet will survive forever. Our time on this planet is brief and fleeting, but if we live it right, we will have made our short time here beautiful and as perfect as we can possibly make it, un. That's why art is fleeting."
"Brat your logic is all sorts of messed up," Sasori raised his hand and ruffled the taller male's hair playfully, earning a slight grunt of annoyance from the latter. He smiled. "Is there anything that you can call art that's eternal?"
Deidara pondered the question, if only for a few seconds, before answering. "I'll admit it: there is one, un."
"And that is?"
"Love, un. To me, it never dies."
The redhead smiled widely. "Good answer, brat."
Watching the blonde give a wide-toothed grin, the puppeteer wasn't surprised by the giant tug on his heartstrings.
Guess even he, himself, had fallen victim to the art of puppetry.
He was finally being controlled by love.
"Deidara, where are you taking me?" Sasori tried to pry the hands off that were covering his eyes.
"No peeking, Sasori no Danna, un!" the grip on his face only tightened.
"Brat, just tell me where you're taking me?!"
"That'll ruin the surprise!"
Night had fallen across the city, as well as nearing a close on the redhead's birthday.
But his day had been jam-packed with stuff.
After leaving the art museum, Deidara had taken them to a restaurant Sasori hadn't been to since he was young. The only reason he had even remembered going there so long ago was because of the old wooden sign hanging over the door that had read The Green Lantern. He also had remembered that the diner was known for its four-leaf clover cookies that turned his lips and tongue green, which he happily ordered before leaving.
After that, they had just wondered about the city, exploring different attractions and visiting places Sasori hadn't been to in years.
Yet, for Deidara, it had been new.
Through their mutual friends, Deidara had managed to find each and every place that had seemed to incorporate itself into the redhead's life, even finding some that said male had forgotten about.
And just earlier, Deidara had hailed a cab to take them out into the suburbs.
"Why are we going out here?" Sasori had asked, watching the city quickly transform into actual houses.
"I have a surprise for you, un."
The sky had finally grown dark, the moon in the phase where it's completely invisible to the naked eye.
Without warning, the taxi had stopped next to what looked like a forest. Deidara had unbuckled himself and opened the door wide, smiling at the redhead. "Close your eyes, un."
"Why? Why did we stop next to a forest?" even though he had been questioning, he released his seatbelt, nonetheless. Rolling his eyes, the blonde had shaken his head. "I told you, un; it's a surprise."
"Brat, just tell me why-"
"Close your eyes or I will tell this taxi to turn back around, un," the younger male had threatened, a mix between playful and seriousness. The older male had blinked for a few seconds, and then had sighed in defeat, closing his eyes. "Alright, fine."
Now, here he was, almost tripping over what felt like a tree branch as Deidara kept his hands over his eyes in an attempt to keep him from seeing whatever it was he didn't want him to see.
"Are we there yet, brat?"
"Almost, un. Watch your step."
"If you didn't have your damn hands over my eyes, I wouldn't have to – OW! God DAMMIT!"
"I told you to watch your step, un."
"You're not helping, Deidara."
"Would you relax, un?"
"Dammit, no, I won't fucking relax until I know the safety of my life isn't at risk anymore!" a stream of profanity escaped his lips, once again, as he tripped over another branch.
The brat really did want to kill him.
They walked in silence for a few minutes, Sasori's patience wearing thinner by the second. Once he stopped feeling branches catching on the material of his jeans, he spoke up. "Okay, brat, we better be there or I swear I'll scream. We've been walking through this forest for the last hour and-"
"It's only been 15 minutes, un."
"And I keep tripping over every damn tree branch cause you insist on keeping my eyes covered and-"
"Sasori, un."
"Doing so, I could die in the process of you showing me this 'surprise' and-"
"SASORI, UN!"
"What?!"
"Open your eyes, un," came the response. Confused, Sasori crinkled his closed eyes, noticing that Deidara's hands were finally gone. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened them.
The first thing he noticed was that they were in a field, the edge of the forest behind them. His ears picked up the whistling of the cold wind snaking its way through the bare branches of the trees and waving through the thistles of grass. Far up ahead on a hill stood an evergreen tree, proud and tall. His nose picked up clean air. Air that was only filled with the smells of nature, not the scents of other people, a sewage system, exhaust from cars, etc. What he was smelling was air that hadn't been touched by the ways of humanity.
And he loved it.
Yet that wasn't what he staring at anymore.
He was staring at the sky.
What normally only housed five or six stars now housed over what looked like five or six million. Not one area of the dark abyss was bare; every place was taken up with stars. The shining, jeweled specs lit up the night so powerfully, Sasori wondered why he was never able to see them in the city.
"The city lights are always too bright to actually see these, un," Deidara explained, reading the redhead's mind.
His vision was overtaken by the numerous specs of dazzling light. Walking forward, his eyes didn't leave them.
There are so many, he thought, mouth gaping. He continued striding through the grass, not even aware of the younger male following close behind, watching the reaction with a wide grin.
Without warning, Sasori laid down, facing towards the sky as he did so. By doing this, even his peripheral was taken up by the azure. It felt like he was floating in a light-speckled space and all he had to do was reach out and he could grasp one of those lights tightly in his hand, shining through his fingers, hot and sharp. And when he closed his eyes, letting himself feel the wind run over his skin in sheets, it felt like he was rocking against calm waves.
He opened his eyes again as he felt a presence lay next to him. He turned his head to see Deidara staring up at the sky as well, blue orbs reflecting the beauty, just like in the redhead's dream that morning. "Beautiful, isn't it, un?"
"How did you know about this place?"
"This field isn't far from my house, un," the blonde explained. "I discovered it one day and it's been my getaway ever since. When I was still in high school, I would come here when I felt overwhelmed and was about to explode from the stress, un. Something about lying under the stars calmed me enough to know I would make it through whatever stressful event I was facing."
"I've never seen so many stars before," Sasori murmured, hoping his roommate didn't hear him.
"I know, un. Pein and I had a conversation about it."
Guess he had heard him.
"What did my devil of a best friend tell you?"
"That you've grown up in the city your entire life," Deidara turned his head to gaze into the amber orbs staring back. "And that one of your biggest dreams was to see a sky full of stars, un. Since it's your birthday, I wanted to make that wish come true."
"You care too much about me, brat," even though he was extremely happy to know that the blonde cared about him, it felt weird.
He wasn't used to being cared about so much before.
"Why is it such a problem for me to care about you, un?"
"There are a lot of reasons, Deidara," the redhead replied tersely. They stayed quiet for a few seconds, staring at each other until the younger male broke the silence.
"What are you not telling me, Sasori no Danna, un?"
"And what are you not telling me, brat?"
No…don't do it.
"What are you talking about, un?"
Don't say another word.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Shut up right now.
"Danna, I seriously don't, un."
You'll regret it.
"Don't act dumb with me, brat!"
You'll hate yourself.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UN!"
Do. Not. Say. It.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THOSE DAMN PRESCRIPTION PILLS OF YOURS?!" Sasori finally screamed, despite his inner monologue begging him not to. Letting the words sink in, Deidara blinked while a mix between an embarrassed/shock look overtook his face. "W-What are you talking about, un?"
"Those goddamn pills called Disulfiram and Remeron!" the older male explained. "What the hell are you doing with those?!"
Deidara's demeanor suddenly changed to that of someone who had just been slapped across the face for causing trouble. And within his eyes, Sasori saw something switch in the blonde, and he suddenly looked about ready to cave in on himself and disappear into the ground.
Shit…you really fucked up, Sasori.
Good for you.
Hesitantly, he extended his hand until he placed it gingerly on the side of the sculptor's face, noting that the latter was now trembling.
Deidara gazed with near soulless eyes into the amber ones laced with sorrow.
"I think it's about time we tell each other everything."
"…Un."