The next morning, Sasori tugged his curtains open, letting the dewy, midmorning sun into the study.
He approached the window, looking out towards his garden. The plants were growing well, spilling out of their raised beds, it was almost aggressive. Recent rainfall had caused them to spring up, like creatures walking their way from the pools of early-life, forming a monstrous gait.
Thinking about his plants helped his mind from focusing on something else.
That. The 'problem', as Sasori began to refer to it in his head.
Sometimes, Sasori wondered if Deidara himself should be renamed 'The Problem.' He had definitely caused one in Sasori's life, that's for sure.
He felt an unpleasant ache in his chest, like a sharp spike of anxiety that Sasori couldn't shake. His remorse at the outcome of yesterday night's conversation was taxing.
If Deidara had been some stranger, someone else he had begun seeing, Sasori would have been calmer about this whole thing. Frankly, what Sasori did was his own business, and he would welcome no intrusion into that.
However, Deidara, being such a close friend of Hidan and his Best Man, had definitely complicated matters. It meant he and Deidara would have to interact with each other in front of not only Hidan and Kakuzu but their whole wedding party. Right now, the mistake of getting too heavily involved with Deidara weighed on Sasori's chest.
And it was made worse that Sasori was expecting Deidara any minute. He had messaged the blond, asking if he could come round to talk. After last night, Sasori thought they needed to clear the air. With the stag party imminent, Sasori knew he had to be at least on speaking terms with Deidara.
Sasori stayed in his study until a succession of quick knocks signalled Deidara's arrival.
His pupils narrowed, and the redhead sprang down the staircase. Another rapping of knocks on the door set his teeth on edge, and Sasori wrenched open the door.
Deidara stood right in front of him, arms folded.
"So - what do you want, un?" The blond spoke forthright.
Sasori swallowed, the action not really helping his dry throat. Sasori took in the blond's mannerisms; Deidara was tapping his hand against his upper arm whilst they were crossed. He seemed as if he was about to bounce off the balls of his feet; Deidara was flighty, jumpy this morning.
Not wanting to keep Deidara waiting for long, especially after last night, Sasori ushered the blond into his lounge, casting a quick eye around the room. He directed Deidara to sit in the nearest armchair whilst Sasori quickly ran upstairs, closing the door firmly to his study, protecting his unfinished artwork from Deidara's presence, and returned equally hastily.
Deidara seemed unbothered by Sasori's movements as he sank into the seat nearest to the door.
Sasori perched on the edge of the opposite seat, resting his elbows on his knees. He pressed his slender fingers together, keeping the pressure poised on the fingertips as he observed his neighbour.
With the creaking amount of books bearing down on Deidara from above and Sasori's serious expression, Deidara would think he was in some professor's study.
Deidara leant his body weight against the armrest, attempting to sit more casually, although he didn't feel relaxed one bit. Already, this exchange felt too formal.
The acknowledgement of that spurned that on. He was here to take the redhead to task, anyway. He was in no mood for mind games. Eyeing Sasori directly, Deidara held nothing back with his first barb, getting in first before Sasori could strike.
"What the hell was last night's bullshit, un?"
Sasori interlocked his fingers at the question. His face attempted rigidity, an impassive mask, an expression that Sasori knew too well how to wear. "I don't…I don't know." Sasori replied, trying to keep a handle on his approach.
Deidara tilted his head to the side, widening his eyes in disbelief.
"Are you serious, un?" He sat up a little straight again. "You're being serious right now?" Deidara called out. He would be livid if Sasori was going to waste his time and energy yet again.
Sasori pursed his lips together, saying nothing.
Like last night, Sasori's inaction drove Deidara wild. He jumped up, barrelling his way across the lounge towards Sasori. Immediately, Sasori stood up, levelling the atmosphere.
Deidara's expression was fiery; he was pissed.
"Fucking hell, Sasori." He wrinkled his nose like something unpleasant was before him. Deidara continued, following up with a quip. "I expected more of you, un."
For all the impassive, mask-like attempt he wanted to show, Sasori couldn't negate the emotion that bled from his expressive eyes. As Deidara's words stung, he had to look away.
He quietly fumed at himself, the whole situation, whilst being unable to meet Deidara's eye-line.
Deidara clenched a fist, his body shaking. With his left hand, he squeezed against Sasori's upper arm as the puppeteer still deflected his eyes.
"You really fucking piss me off, un."
Marred by Deidara's words, Sasori attempted to take control of the situation, swatting Deidara's hand off his arm. Sasori stepped back brusquely, now a face paces away from Deidara. His eyes had an edge to their imploring gaze.
"I'm sure I do." He bit right back at Deidara. Sasori took a short breath before continuing further. "Now look, we've got a job to do. Next weekend, in fact. And-"
Deidara interrupted, loudly clamouring, "Yes I fucking wellknowun, but what does that have to do with –"
Now, it was Sasori who cut off Deidara, his voice raising a couple of octaves, "It has everything to do with it!"
Deidara stopped shouting suddenly, his mouth agape.
Sasori was grateful for the silence. He hung onto the stare Deidara his way as breathed in, attempting to calm the thudding in his chest.
"It's to do with me and you…because we're no use to either Hidan or Kakuzu if we're at each other's throats at their stag party, right?" he said. The words sprang forth from Sasori's chest, falling between him and Deidara as short, sharp requests. Almost like the quicker Sasori could say it, the quicker he could make Deidara believe it.
Deidara returned a blazing look as Sasori explained his reasoning. Though Deidara pressed himself to silence, listening to Sasori's plea, his energy spilled out to jittery movements as his trainer tapped against Sasori's rug.
"Like it or not, we've got to put on a united front," Sasori spoke, strained under the determination to get what he wanted, "for their sake, yes?"
Deidara was eyeing the large rug on the ground rather than meeting Sasori's gaze. Sasori had to nudge him to answer, which he did like a petulant child.
"Un," Deidara grunted. He was quiet, brooding.
"Ok, then," Sasori replied.
Deidara hated how Sasori said it with such finality, like everything was tidied up, and polished. Ready for display.
Thoroughly chastised, Deidara replied, "Ok." in a mock-attempt of Sasori's bullish tone. Then he turned away and strode from his neighbour. Deidara was unwilling to be in Sasori's lounge any longer. He yanked the door open and left it ajar as he strode away.
Deidara did not check over his shoulder to see Sasori wincing at his departure.
The following weekend rolled around, and Deidara was opening the boot of his car. Though it was evening, the air was still thick with heat. It was to be one of the last hot weekends of summer.
As Deidara heaved a cool-box out of his car, he was relieved to have made it to the stag party on time. He stalled for a moment before he had to face everyone. Deidara exhaled, the air coming up in breathy, light wisps.
You can do this, come on, Deidara told 't overthink it.
His resolve hardened, and Deidara took a deeper breath and set forth towards the rental place they had hired for the stag party.
By the time Deidara was inside, meeting the rest of the people invited, he was all smiles. Hidan and Kakuzu had only a small circle that they wanted involved in their wedding; it included a couple of friends from their neighbourhood, Itachi and Kisame, Hidan's boss, Konan and her boyfriend Pein, and two other co-workers who joined their pub quiz team, Obito and Zetsu.
And, of course, there was one other to add to their party.
Right now, Sasori was outside. Deidara could see him through the large windows that looked out from the kitchen to the courtyard. Sasori was speaking with Itachi by the pool's edge. He'd arrived first, naturally.
If Deidara thought about Sasori for too long, he felt so awkward that he wanted the ground to swallow him up, he was minded to think about his - ex? Neighbour? Situationship? Whatever he was to him, as little as possible. Instead, Deidara turned away from the window and hastily struck up a conversation with Kisame.
After everyone had introduced themselves, Deidara began preparing the party's cocktails, pouring an endless stream of alcohol into the dispenser. He was crafting a low-budget punch style drink, which was mainly vodka, white rum, pink lemonade and a pineapple and orange juice blend. He also had ingredients to make mojitos later, which he was looking forward to having some of too. The action of mixing the blend in the large plastic dispenser reminded him of being a student; indeed, he and Hidan had been known to make large 'bins' of jungle-juice, mixing the cheapest vodka with shitty alcopops in a plastic tub. The taste wasn't much to be desired, yet it did the job of getting them drunk quickly, which was the important thing back then. As Deidara began decanting the mix into the plastic cups (they could take them out to the pool that way) he felt happy that at least he was able to give his friends a better quality concoction now..
Only Sasori and Deidara knew about the surprise that they had in mind for tomorrow. Deidara had been in regular contact with his old airfield - he was ready. He would be taking it steady tonight, so he was all good for tomorrow; no one else in the stag group could actually fly the planes, though there were other pilots there tomorrow for the experience that they had booked.
Deidara felt a thrill at the thought; it had been far too long since he had felt the exhilaration of being up in the air. Perhaps it was just what he needed.
Deidara was also genuinely happy to see Hidan and Kakuzu; and thanks to alcohol in no time at all, he oozed genuine warmth from catching up with them. They were chatting in the kitchen. Deidara swept his eyes around the converted barn house as they conversed, pleased with how the barn rental looked in reality. It was a wide open-plan kitchen slash diner area with shiny white countertops and modern fixtures. The air hummed with vibrancy; their party had the whole place to themselves and were relishing in it.
"I'm warning you, Deidara," Hidan purred as he was seated on the countertop, drink in hand.
As grooms-to-be, he and Kakuzu were getting looked after amply; their glass would never be empty. "Kakuzu pretends he has a hefty list of no-go areas. But he'll do anything when it's worth his while, am I right?"
The accusation was levied in good humour; Hidan was enlivened that their stag party was finally here.
Kakuzu merely huffed into his own drink, though his eyes shone.
"I'll bear that in mind." Deidara grinned, eyes flashing towards Hidan.
"I'm intrigued to see what you've got planned," Kakuzu chipped in, though his lips twitched in a smile.
Deidara felt a trickle of nerves run down his spine. Hopefully, he and Sasori could pull this off together so everyone had a good time.
Later, music thudded round the converted barn, sound ricocheting up to the tall ceilings. Voices overlapped as everyone spoke louder and louder, feeding off each other's energy.
Kakuzu strode off to catch up with some of the other guests. Deidara was about to follow when Hidan pulled so roughly on his arm he thought it would tear from the socket.
"Fucking hell, Hidan, ow!" Deidara whined. "Just cause it's your party doesn't mean I'll be your personal rag doll, un."
"Yeah, yeah; whatever." Hidan brushed him off. "More importantly, what's happening with you and Sasori?!"
Deidara gave Hidan a deploring look. He shook his head and took Hidan's cup from him. Filling it from the dispenser, he then roughly returned the full-to-the-brim drink back to the soon-to-be groom.
"If you've got time to be worrying about me, you haven't drank enough yet, un," Deidara deadpanned.
Hidan was momentarily dumbstruck before he sniggered and then gladly took a mouthful of the homebrew. Deidara had made an excellent mix, to be fair.
"Alright, jeez." Hidan conceded, though he couldn't resist a follow-up "Can't a guy have any fun anymore? As you said, 'It is my stag party, after all'".
He licked the tip of his tongue against his teeth as he watched Deidara squirm. The blond took a laboured glug of his own drink in reply but did not refute Hidan's point. Not long after, Deidara drew Konan and Pein into their conversation, mindful to turn the dialogue away from his sex life.
Hidan's violet eyes roved from Deidara towards Sasori, who was on the opposite side of the room.
Indeed, both men had a mannerism like they were avoiding the other person even existing. Their sexual tension was so freaking obvious to him it might as well be lit up on a billboard for all to see. Now, Hidan's focus lingered on Sasori; he was talking to Kakuzu and Obito and looked as if he was trying to come off naturally.
Mirth gleaned within Hidan's brain. If Deidara wasn't going to play ball, he'd try his luck with prising a development out of Sasori soon enough. With that tempting notion in mind, Hidan hopped off the counter and charged into the fray of the night's party.
Now everyone had settled in, Deidara knew it would be time to get the first night's entertainment underway.
He looked across the room to catch Sasori's eye. Though each man had at times tried to avoid the other's gaze that night, it took hardly any time at all for Sasori to meet Deidara's eyes now. With each second their eyes connected, Deidara felt his cheeks warm. He hated himself for it.
Though he and Sasori had a shaky understanding that they would work together for the sake of this weekend's party - and the wedding, for that matter - it didn't mean Deidara could turn his feelings off like a tap. For now, Deidara would try to make it through this weekend the best he could.
Sasori, by contrast, was adamantly trying to bury any feelings on the matter. He was pushing forth, attempting to ignore any shreds of remorse eking out.
Sasori strode towards him, and Deidara quickly necked a swig of the home brew. He gagged as it went down his throat too quickly.
Sasori's face was impassive, eyes half-lidded, as per usual, as Deidara spluttered up his last swallow. Deidara's face flushed.
Tch, why did I have to do that right in front of him?!
"Are you ready to start things off?" Sasori asked, his tone serious.
Trying to stick to his resolve, Deidara nodded quickly. "Let's go, un."
A couple of hours later, the party was in full swing, as Deidara had announced the night's event - a pool party tournament.
Their group was full of competitive hotheads, such as Hidan and Kisame, and cooler yet ambitious types, of which Kakuzu and Pein fell into such a corner. When Deidara had initially suggested this idea, Sasori had been skeptical. However, as he surveyed the teams getting ready for the next round, which would be water polo, he was pleasantly surprised at how well it fit the group.
A playlist of summer dance music had been put together by Deidara, and the beats filled the outdoor patio area. Homemade cocktails were being passed around to everyone on the terrace. As the group walked down to the pool area, reams of fairy lights lit up their outdoor space.
Zetsu and Kisame launched cannonballs into the pool, sending spray all over Konan and Itachi, who were seated poolside. They had been casually reclined on the outdoor seating, soaking up the last rays of sunshine. Konan leapt up, swearing, whereas Itachi nonchalantly stood up, wringing out his thick, dark ponytail.
In no time, they had given up not getting wet as they delved into the pool.
It smelled slightly of chlorine, mint and lime as the scent of the pool and Mojitos clashed in the air. They'd already played beer pong and darts; the raucous energy was building with each game and hefty amounts of alcohol consumed.
Each groom was a team captain, and for this honour, Hidan and Kakuzu had been presented with bright red, Baywatch-style swimwear for the tournament. Kakuzu had plumbed for the woman's shape-formed style, whereas Hidan had been allocated the barely-there ribbon of speedos. Kakuzu's chest looked especially beefy in the curves of the swimsuit.
Everyone else had more casual beach wear, save for Sasori and Deidara, who had referee guises. Sasori was not a fan of the material. It felt cheap and plasticky against his skin. He was not overly enamoured with how short the shorts were; Deidara had picked these particular pieces. Sasori chewed on the thought and hoped to quickly get through the next game. Though he and Deidara weren't drinking as much as the others just yet, Sasori did feel a little light-headed. His and Deidara's initial conversations had been frosty and stilted at the party, a few hours of working together had thawed the awkwardness somewhat.
Whilst Deidara was blowing up the beachball for them to play with, Hidan took advantage of the momentary pause to join his partner on the opposite side of the pool. Hidan was grinning ear to ear as he swam clumsily towards Kakuzu.
"Is It too late to change your wedding outfit?" Hidan moaned into Kakuzu's ear, wrapping his arms around his fiancé's shoulders. Their bodies pressed against each other in the pool.
"You wish," Kakuzu said gruffly into Hidan's neck. "Though, you could always get me an extra honeymoon present." Kakuzu's lips were wet as spoke right into Hidan's skin, moving up from his neck to his lips, leaving the last words upon them before moving hungrily against Hidan's lips to kiss him, stifling any retort about Kakuzu buying Hidan presents instead.
Wolf whistles erupted around the pool as they kissed until Sasori blew his ref's whistle.
"Alright, get going," he called out, signalling to Deidara, who was on the opposite side of the pool. Deidara threw the ball towards Kakuzu as Hidan swam to the other end of the pool to rejoin his team of Itachi, Pein and Obito. Neither he nor Sasori were playing this one. Sasori would be the referee, and Deidara was in charge of the forfeits.
It didn't take long until Kakuzu's team scored a point, Kisame jumping out of the water like a salmon to smash the ball squarely into the opposing team's net.
'COME ON - How is that fair - he's been on a swim team!" Obito whined, splashing the surface of the pool with a cranky expression. Kisame responded by aiming the next serve at Obito's face.
"Ha, nice," Kakuzu smirked as he watched Obito duck under the water at the last second. Hidan tried to smack the ball away from their side of the pool yet launched himself in such an awkward position he collided directly into Itachi.
Play continued; Kakuzu's team scored another point, and so Deidara ran over to Hidan to pass him a shot to chug. Each time the other team scored, the captain had to down a shot. Hidan squeezed his face at the excruciating sweet concoction, shaking his face violently as it made its way down his throat.
"Urgh, what FUCKERS picked that- ack!" He gagged.
From the other side of the pool, Konan splashed water into his face.
Sweat was pooling atop Sasori's brow as he watched Hidan splashing right back at Konan, telling her he would find a way to condemn her mortal life for getting the chlorine in his eyes. Deidara perched on the edge of the pool, sniggering as the play descended into chaos.
Across the pool, Sasori's eyes lingered on Deidara before resumed play.
They played best of ten; Hidan's team managed to claw back a few points, yet Kakuzu's team demolished them by the end. Once the game was over, Hidan clambered out of the pool and immediately dived back into it.
Deidara produced some inflated pool floats that he and Sasori had blown up whilst guests were distracted with the earlier drinks. He slid them into the pool and sat back, legs dangling into the water.
They were having a break before their next game, so the others either milled away to the kitchen, drying off as they went or lounged in the pool.
It had been a fun night so far, and he was feeling merry.
Deidara was a little distracted, just enjoying the ambience, when he was surprised by the sense of someone joining him poolside. He heard the rustle of clothes before the redhead's frame slid into Deidara's view.
"Hey," Sasori said quietly, also sliding his legs into the pool water.
Deidara directed a gaze the redhead's way. Sasori had his hands clasped together as he kicked his legs slowly against the swirl of the water.
"Hey, un," Deidara replied after a few beats.
The water was ebbing around the two men, bringing forth a calming relief to their flushed skin. It had been an active, frantic game.
Sasori cocked his head to the side, staring squarely at the pool rather than at Deidara.
Intrigued, Deidara exhaled through his nose and slowly turned his gaze to run the length of Sasori's body, from his studious expression to the way his fingertips began to trace the swirling water, making a course of ripples flow outwards. He looked to be deep in thought.
Deidara was about to speak first when, to his surprise, Sasori's words came out in a rush,
"You did good. Back there. Uh - Everyone seems to be enjoying the games you suggested."
Deidara was taken aback. "Huh?" he replied, a little dazzled by Sasori's praise.
This was the same guy who made him feel so small last week. The sting of Sasori's indifference towards him had not been quashed. Deidara was still hurt and angry. And yet…
Deidara took a deep breath, trying to steady any unwanted feelings right now. There was no time for anguish. He chose his words carefully.
"Uh…thanks. I'm glad things are going well so far, un."
When Deidara spoke up again, his voice had more lightness to it. "Tomorrow should be fun." Deidara considered his own statement; perhaps if this weekend went well, he and Sasori could end up being back on good terms. If not anything more, perhaps they could be cordial enough for Deidara to get over this recent hurt.
Feeling bolstered by this idea, Deidara shifted so he was angled closer to the redhead. Sasori noticed the movement and raised his own head to meet Deidara squarely. Deidara smiled, a truly genuine one, towards Sasori. "Maybe we make a good team, eh?"
Sasori's eyes widened. He stalled, momentarily, until he agreed in a subdued, silken voice. "Yeah…maybe we do."