[log][Elevator Gone Wild][Anko, Sai, Kakashi][closed]
This could be a hazard, Sai thought. The metal gated elevator shook when he stepped into it. Definitely a hazard, Sai concluded as he looked up the shaft through the barred elevator roof at the rusty and dirty gears. He slid the door shut and punched in the button for the ground floor.
He mentally grimaced when he pulled away his hand and found remnants of grease stains…or some kind of substance on his hands. He’ll have to find something to wipe this off before his job interview; it would not to do to have such dirty hands when one shakes hands with a possible employer.
The elevator cranked to life and with a shudder, finally began to descend.
Jabbing the button impatiently, Anko shifted from foot to foot. She had been puttering around the apartment all day trying to work up the energy to go get into something, and now half of the day was gone and she still had nothing to show for except for a good buzz and an empty stomach (that half a bottle of rum didn't count, honestly).
She heard the elevator chiming on the floor above her before it ground back into action to descend to her level. She gripped the bar, opening the cage before she stepped onto the shaky platform, eyeing the sole occupant as she did so. Aside from her masked neighbor, Anko was not yet familiar with anyone else living in her building, so she eagerly took the opportunity to ogle meet her new neighbors.
This one seemed a bit younger then she was, primly dressed in khakis and some professional looking dress shirt. Anko stopped her musing long enough to turn around and yank the door closed, eyeing the already lit 'ground level' button. Absently she wiped her hands on the rear of her shorts, not minding if the unmentionable substance that seemed to lubricate the bar left a stain. Offering the guy a now clean hand and a crooked grin, "The name's Anko. Just moved in a few weeks ago."
"My name is Sai. It is nice to meet you." Sai automatically held out his right hand to shake hers before remembering how dirty it was. He was not so free as to wipe his hands clean on his clothing. "Please excuse me, my hand is too dirty to shake yours at the moment." He held up his soiled hand for her to see. It did not feel polite to leave a handshake unreturned and he did not want to risk offending another person, so Sai extended his left hand to shake her right hand instead.
She immediately appeared to be someone quite different from anyone he has met so far. Especially of the female type. The last two females he had met were...wary of him. He was not able to escape their silver tongue or cold shoulder. It was refreshing that this encounter was starting on a generally positive note.
"I had also just moved in." Sai said as the elevator rattled to work. "Do you like it here so far?"
"It's not too bad, just a little quieter then what I'm used to really," she answered bracing herself slightly as the elevator shook. "From what little I've seen the people at least seem nice." Tilting her head to the side, she again pondered his clothes. "Got a hot date or something?" Just as Sai opened his mouth to answer, the elevator stopped suddenly, causing them both to reach out to steady themselves.
"What the hell?", Anko muttered, looking up at the gears as if they held the reason behind the sudden stop.
Sai went over the panel of buttons and pressed a few buttons in hopes of jarring the elevator back to life. When long minutes passed and the elevator was showing no signs of moving, Sai tried trying the emergency call button only to find that the button was missing. He inserted his finger into the hole to press the button but the it did not work.
"It seems that the elevator is stuck. We will probably stay this way until someone realizes that the elevator is not working." Sai informed the scowling Anko.
He will not be making his appointment today it seemed.
Muttering under her breath about stupid malfunctioning elevators and good-for-nothing maintenance workers Anko tried the buttons for herself, hoping that something would get the big metal death trap to move. Finding that truly nothing was working she slumped against the side wall. Dammit, of all the times for this to happen. She was half-inebriated and totally starving.
Chancing a glace over to her partner in captivity, she expected to see some sort of annoyance at the prospect of being late for his date, but he just stared blankly at the keypad. "I hope your girlfriend isn't going to give you any shit about being late." Figuring she may as well make herself comfortable for however long she was trapped, Anko slid down into the corner, ignoring whatever may be growing on the floor. Her stomach growled at their dilemma.
"I do not have a girlfriend." Sai corrected. The elevator was made completely of metal and required tools to be fixed. They would really just have to wait it out. Hopefully that would not be more than a half an hour as elevators are commonly used.
Once again, not so particularly carefree about making contact with the dirty elevator like Anko was, Sai opted to stand (ramrod straight) on the opposite corner. Sai was already working through what to say to his employer once he gets there about his tardiness. Sai hoped that his employer would be understanding and still see him.
"Boyfriend then," Anko offered with a slight leer. Upon getting no reaction she sighed heavily, staring back up at the gears. While she knew her way around mechanical issues, this was one place she was at a loss. The motor was underneath the carriage, totally inaccessible to her at the moment. Of course the elevator had the misfortune to stop between floors so that even if they could pry the gates open, they were facing a wall and could go nowhere.
She fanned herself with her hand, as the weather was still horrifically hot and humid, and there was no air in the elevator shaft. She looked over at Sai in pity. He had to be dying in all those clothes. Hell, in shorts and a tank top she was roasting. "It's soo hooot," she moaned, fanning a little harder.
It was becoming unbearably warm and stuffy. Anko's proclamations of such an environment only made him more aware of his discomfort. He was beginning to perspire considerably. So Sai loosed a few of the top buttons of his shirt to free himself of his exceedingly constricting collar. He undid the buttons to his sleeves so that he could roll them up his elbow as well. He felt a little bit cooler, though not by much. He was almost envious of the way Anko was dressed.
"Fanning yourself only makes you hotter." He said blandly, pushing his slightly wet bangs from his forehead.
"It's the thought of it that counts," she muttered, stopping anyway then she folded her tank top upwards to bare her midriff. Mentally she wondered how long it would take before Sai lost his shirt. At least then she'd have something to look at while stuck in her confinement. The kid was cute, there was no denying that. A little on the rigid side, but cute none-the-less. She shifted her position, stretching her legs out in front of her and brushed her own hair out of her face, mentally cursing herself for not securing it back before leaving.
"Would you sit down dammit," she grumbled. No need for him to be a prissy bitch and stand for however long they were stuck in there. Might as well be as comfortable as possible.
He blinked at her command. "As you wish." He said before sitting down on the elevator floor. He was not going to make the interview so there was no reason to worry about his clothing anymore. Besides, his companion was making a very negative expression. He did not want to lose the positive standing he had with her earlier because he did not want a repeat of his experience with Ino and Temari. If it did, it would be infinitely worse as they were stuck in a confined space for an unspecified amount of time.
"Do you not have somewhere you will be late to?" Sai asked, hoping to start some kind of conversation after some silence from the pair of them.
"Not particularly. I was sick of sitting in my apartment so I decided to get out and forage for some food." She tilted her head to the side, seeing what designs she could make out of the wire mesh in between the bars. As the time progressed, she found herself becoming increasingly bored.
"I wonder if anyone else has ever found themselves trapped in this heap of scrap metal," she thought aloud. After a moment she brightened considerably. "We should name the elevator."
"But why would we want to name an elevator?" Sai wondered.
"Because it's fun."
"But why?"
"Because it's fun."
"It is neither a pet or a child."
"Unless you can come up with something better at the moment, we are naming the damned elevator," she growled. On an impulse she crawled forward on her hands and knees to reach the keypad before randomly jabbing keys...just in case. Defeated with her lack of results, she crawled back over to her corner. She was hot, she was hungry and dammit, this kid was not keeping her amused as he should be doing.
Sai watched her whole process before deciding to inquire her further on this naming business. To him, there was no logical reason to. He supposed this came with having a personality of some sort. Perhaps this is a quirk of hers, this desire to name inanimate objects. He would have to go along with it as he would not want to offend her. He did not see any repercussions in doing so either.
He thought for a good moment for a name. "Would 'Milton' be a good name for this elevator?" The man he walked by every morning had a tendency to tremor and stop suddenly. His wife liked to exclaim his name when this happened. It was an apt naming, Sai decided.
Anko pondered this for a moment. Milton seemed a good a name as any, and she informed Sai of this. Thusly ending that little game, they lapsed back into silence. Anko shifted uncomfortably feeling the perspiration running down the small of her back. Her clothes were totally damp now. She contemplated stripping down further, but her decided lack of undergarments made that choice for her. Sai wasn't looking much better then she was at this point. His hair was just as wet as hers was, and all those clothes! It was all Anko could do not to take them off the poor kid.
His pants were dense enough to absorb the sweat without a problem but his shirt was not doing so good of a job. His shirt was sticking to his skin which made the evaporation of his sweat nearly impossible and made him very uncomfortable. He mentally grimaced when he tugged on the collar of his shirt to keep the shirt away from his skin but it still clung to him. They had been stuck for a little over and hour already and if he continues to sweat like this then he may run into some problems later. Dehydration or overheating came to mind.
"Would it be alright if I take my shirt off?" Sai asked, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
She couldn't believe that this kid was actually asking her for permission to strip. Lord knows she didn't bother asking when she exposed as much skin as should could without being completely nude.
"I wish you would already. If you weren't, I was about to take it off for you," she grumbled, trying to not seem too eager. She watched with glee as he finally undid the remaining buttons and slid the shirt off his shoulders. She couldn't help herself but to admire the scenery before her. She had seen some damn good bodies in her time, but this kid definitely was up there. She didn't know if it was the remainder of the alcohol running it's course or the heat that threw her into delirium, but she found herself leaning over and tracing a fingernail over the hard line of his abs.
Sai was dumbfounded by his companion's actions. He did not understand why she was touching him. There was nothing that seemed to be wrong with him and it was just simply too hot to be near one another. Sai, however, felt himself riveted by her finger on his skin. It was a strange sensation to be touched so. Her finger danced over his warm skin and this made his spine shudder. He considered staying silent and let her do what she wanted in the risk of offending her somehow. It was not...unpleasant what she was doing. However, he also felt uncomfortable and wanted to squirm away from her, as this was all new to him.
"Ah. Excuse me...?" He uttered softly. He tensed when her finger followed the trail of his abdomen too closely to the waistband of his pants.
"Hmm?", she idly traced up another ridge. catching her bottom lip between her teeth. After another moment she stopped, looking up at Sai curiously.
"How old were you again?"
"I am sixteen." Sai stared.
"Shit." Withdrawing her wandering finger, Anko slid back over to her corner pouting mentally. It would be just her luck. Stuck in a bloody hot-as-hell elevator with a set of killer abs, but sadly said abs belong to a minor. She had seriously pissed someone off in a previous lifetime. "You sure as hell don't look like any sixteen year old I've ever seen," she muttered, just a little put out.
He blinked. "I am sorry...?"
She raised an eyebrow at the apology. "Not exactly something you can control now is it?" She gave herself a mental shake, clearing it of all pervy thoughts and focused on the problem at hand. They'd been stuck in the elevator for over 2 hours now, and she couldn't believe that no one had been banging on the doors or had even noticed there was an issue. Making a mental note to physically harm the maintenance man once she got out of there, she heaved herself up so that she could glare at the keypad. There had to be something they could do.
Sai shuffled out of her way when she decided to attack the buttons fiercely, just pressing buttons. He was feeling strange(he felt a lot more hot, but this he chalked up to body heat since she was sitting so close) and just plain bewildered. Her sudden change in attitude made him wonder why his age upset her. Sai stood up and went over to where she was furiously jabbing at the buttons.
"I do not believe that would work." Sai said. "You have tried that already." It did not make sense that they were still stuck in the elevator. Normally, elevators are used very often, so often that a two hour stretch seemed preposterous. Perhaps, people did know that the elevator was not working and was furiously trying to fix it down below.
"Why do you think no one has come to use the elevator yet?" Sai asked.
"It doesn't matter that I tried already, it might work now.", she grumbled, jabbing at the buttons in hope that there would be some response. "Any other time people would be lined up to use the damned thing, but the time it sticks there's no one to notice. We would have heard them prying the doors open if that had happened, and there's no noise below us so there's no one working on the motor either. I have no clue why there wouldn't have been someone to complain by now."
Anko stopped her jabbing long enough to gaze longingly at the cables holding them in the air. Perhaps she could boost herself up through the ceiling somehow and shimmy up the cables? At least then she could perhaps force some doors open and get someone to fix the damned thing, but normal people wouldn't think of that, so that was out of the question.
Sai would have shrugged at her stubbornness about the buttons if such an expression occurred to him. "Then all we can do is wait." The heat was still oppressive and he was still sweating buckets. He used his poor shirt to wipe his face and body to help him feel a little bit more comfortable.
They were quiet for a while before Sai thought of something to propose to Anko to pass the time. "Do you know of any games we can play while we wait?"
Anko froze after the seemingly innocent question was asked. If it was coming from anyone else, it would have been laden with innuendo, but coming from this kid she really didn't think he meant it in the same way her evil mind processed it, the heavens help him if he did. 'No, we are not molesting the kid. We are not molesting the kid. We are not...'
Swiping at the sweat on her face she plopped back down on the floor in defeat, again. Letting her head fall back with a sharp 'thunk', she wrinkled her face up into a scowl. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she finally answered him. "Truth or Dare?"
He took a seat across from her on the opposite wall of Milton the elevator. "I do not know this game. Will you explain it to me, please?"
"It is a game where you are offered a choice of telling the truth to whatever question is asked, or doing whatever that person asks of you as a dare. Nothing is off-limits," she tagged on with a wolfish grin. She contemplated propping her feet up on his lap as he settled across from her, but it was entirely too hot to be touching someone else at this point.
Granted she knew this was probably going to backfire on her somehow, Anko threw caution to the wind and went with it. Tilting her head to the side, "Truth or Dare then?"
Well. This certainly has become a dilemma. Truth just seemed to risky, as she could stumble onto something he is not inclined to share with an innocent question. Simple questions, like why he was in Celo, who his family was, what he did, or what he hasn't done, came to mind.
"Dare." If anything, doing something she asked would put him in the lesser of a bad situation. They were in a confined space so the activities he would be forced to do would be limited. He was not afraid of what may come about. Doing something is not as complicated as answering questions, for all he knew, it could become a mind game. He has not yet acquired enough conversational skills to play mind games.
She hmm'd, narrowing her eyes as she thought of something she could have him do in such limited space. Keeping her mind filtered to things PG-13 and lower, she pondered for a minute. "I dare you to give me a foot rub." She stretched out and plopped her feet in his lap. Hell, it was already unbearably hot, but at least something good could come out of it.
Sai blinked. Choosing dare was definitely a good idea, since a massage wouldn't be too hard to figure out. He has given himself foot massages when his feet were particularly sore but he has never given a foot massage to another person. He never really touched another person outside of training. Figuring that she would tell him if his ministrations were correct or incorrect, Sai decided that he will just "wing it". He carefully took her foot in both hands and began to knead gently. Females had thinner skin and had more nerves near the surface of their skin, he remembered from one of his physiology classes, so he did not need to apply a lot of pressure. He pressed the bottom of her feet with his thumbs for a bit and soon a smile was slowly coming on to her face. Taking this as a good sign, Sai continued. He then made circling motions with across the tops of her foot and he traveled up to her ankles and mid calf. Next, Sai tugged gently on each of her digits, wiggling them slightly as he stretched them out.
"Was that alright?" He said after ten minutes of that as he reached for her other foot.
"Yes," she practically purred. His hands were a bit hesitant at first but where now sure and firm, and she was heaven. Mentally patting herself on the back for the thought, she relaxed against the wall while Sai worked her other foot. She closed her eyes, imagining that she was getting this treatment in a far more comfortable locale then the cramped cage. So lost in her thoughts, she almost didn't hear his question. Deciding that she was too comfortable to move at the moment, she opted for 'truth'.
As Sai massaged her feet, his mind was working on an appropriate question to ask her. There were some things he did not care to know and things that he should not ask because it might prompt the same questions from her. He decided on a simple and positive question.
"What makes you really happy?"
Anko cracked her eyes open to observe him for a moment after asking what could be a loaded question. Sai was intently focused on his work, not looking at her. "What makes me really happy?" She thought on it for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "There are the little things, like the way it smells after it rains, or just curling up with an old blanket on a cold afternoon, the creature comforts you could say. Probably the thing that makes me the happiest is to be around people who I know truly care about me for me, ya know? Just knowing that there is a person or people that are there for you no matter what."
He had finished his foot massage and he returned her foot back gently. He felt uncomfortable to look at her now. He was expecting a light-hearted answer, not something that would make uneasy memories pop back up for him. If he knew what happiness was like or could recognize it, he was sure he would find it in the time of his life when he had that someone who truly cared for him. But all that has passed.
He looked at her anyway and smiled his smile. "Yes. I do know." And he left it at that.
His tone had changed slightly. She hadn't meant to start waxing poetic, but once she opened her mouth she couldn't stop herself. Curling her feet under her, she pondered the slight changes in Sai. The smile he had offered her was strained, that was obvious. She shrugged it off for now. She didn't know him well enough to pump him for information, so it was best letting the uncomfortable topic slide for now.
"What'll it be, truth or dare?"
He did not want to risk Anko to decide to ask him to explain what he means. "Dare."
Offering him a huge grin, "Dance for me."
He nodded. He then stood up, pausing for a bit to decide what to do. Ballet would not do because there was not enough room. So Sai began to dance the way he learned when he went clubbing with Ukon. He was a little dismayed to be moving this much in such a warm environment but Anko did dare him. He imagined the beat of the song in his head and went with it. After dancing for a few moments, he took a peek down at Anko for her reaction.
Anko watched the kid sway to a beat only he could hear, and silently cursed herself. She had just gotten her mind out of the gutter and three little words hurled her back. Her eyes slightly glazed over as he twisted and gyrated, the dim yellow overhead light making his chest and abs glisten with perspiration. After a few moments of tormenting herself she flailed her hands and told him his dare was completed and that he could stop.
He reached for his shirt and wiped off some more excess sweat that had popped up from the short time he was dancing. It was his turn to ask now.
"Truth or dare?"
Shaking herself out of her haze, she answered warily with "Dare."
"Please sing for me." Her request for him to dance inspired him to ask her to do something of the entertainment category.
She blinked at him. That was something unexpected. Her mind totally blanked out when she tried to think of something to sing. She vaguely remembered one of the caretakers at the orphanage who used to sing to her when she had nightmares and wouldn't go back to sleep, but that was the extent of her knowledge aside from whatever garble she heard on the radio. She would have glared at him if the request hadn't been such an innocent one. Not to mention he had done both of her dares without question, so she really couldn't deny him.
She sang softly, calling to mind some ballad she knew was popular at the time, inwardly hoping her voice wouldn't carry too far. She'd rather be stuck in their cage for another hour rather then them finally being found because someone heard her voice echoing through the elevator shaft. She made it through the song without screwing it up too horribly in her mind.
"Truth or Dare."
"That was lovely." Sai said. She had a strong and clear voice. He had only wished she sang louder. He figured that it would be suspicious if he only chose 'Dare' and by now the awkward moment for questions had passed. "Truth."
Anko felt her cheeks warm a bit at the compliment. Opting for a safe question, "What are some things that you really enjoy? You know, past times, hobbies, whatever?"
"I like to draw." Sai answered simply. Figuring that there was nothing else to say about that matter, Sai barrelled on to his turn. "Truth or Dare?"
"...That's it?" Anko was a bit dumbfounded at the lack of explanation she received. A little elaboration would have been nice, but then again this kid didn't really seem to understand why she was so perplexed. She pouted a moment before answering 'Truth'.
He thought for a moment, before realizing she could help him answer some questions he had about interacting with people. "What would be an offensive thing to say to you?"
Anko crooked an eyebrow at the odd question. "There is a lot of things that could be said that would offensive," she said slowly, trying to narrow down the list mentally. "Any cracks about my age usually earns someone a broken nose," she said after a moment, picking one of her biggest pet peeves. "Or if someone criticized the way I did something or some off comment about my appearance. Those are the most offensive things I can think of. Why, are you trying to find some way to piss me off?", she asked, narrowing her eyes at her companion.
"I am trying not to." Sai replied, pleased to have such valuable information about conduct shared with him. "I have a habit of unintentionally offending people."
"Fair enough. Truth or Dare."
"Truth." He was less anxious about choosing 'truth' now.
"Where were you going today, ya know, before we got trapped in here? You said it wasn't a date, though you were nicely dressed," it had been nagging at her natural curiosity for some time now.
"I had a job interview." Choosing "truth" really wasn't at all concerning at all. Once again, seeing no need in elaborating Sai continued with his turn. "Truth or Dare?"
"Truth." She was still a little wary of choosing dare after her unexpected a capella moment.
"Where were you going?" He didn't have a question in mind and after a while just decided to reuse a question. He had inquired about where she was going already but it wouldn't hurt to ask for specifics, he supposed.
"I was going to go find something to eat for lack of anything better to do at the time." Anko let her head fall back against the wall of the elevator again. This was getting ridiculous. Surely someone had to know something was up with the damned contraption by now. Hunger had been thrown to the furthest corners of her mind, and now all she wanted was a icy shower. Between the grime of the elevator and her own sweat, she felt disgusting. Sai seemed just as miserable with his state of undress and stifling heat that was trapped in the shaft with them.
"Truth or Dare."
Sai wiped his face and neck with his dirty and drenched shirt, mentally scowling at how it made him feel even more uncomfortable. He was just spreading around the grime and perspiration. How he desired a cooling shower and possibly something to eat. The time they had spent stuck in the elevator was going well into three hours. "Truth." He disliked the idea of moving around again.
Anko tossed him a knowing grin, she couldn't blame him. Neither of them felt like getting up at this point.
"How many girls have you ever been with?" She was quickly running out of tame questions to ask and was getting past the point of being polite and un-intrusive.