[log] after the walls fall

[callmelegion]

Who: Pain, Konan
Where/When: Konohagakure; on the morning when the marriage event has ended (September 3rd).
Status: Closed / Active
Style: Paragraph, switches between first/third/second person. May have many annoying stylistic flourishes, alas.
Warnings: Nagato misconstruing the world in his usual style. Angst. ABUNDANT :FFFF, and yes, the :FFFF

Comments

[papercutrose]

Her response is immediate. As trained and reflexive as a taijutsu strike.

"No, you did not."

Konan crosses the garden in the same economy of movement, her steps even and curt. "You did not fail Akatsuki, you did not fail Madara and you did not even fail Uzumaki. Furthermore you did not even come close to failing me. We have been assaulted by a superior force, nothing more. I think that these forces are all like Hanzou, and his fellow murderers, and I don't want to think about what they do right now. Maybe it is not ever worth thinking about, much like it's not worth picking up horse manure. I agree, we should go home." Her tone is prim, concentrated acid. Her posture, all hard angles.

She mentally amends a daub of sake to the tea she'll make when they arrive. He'll probably thank her for it.

Kneels down next to him to take his hands and pull him to his feet. His fingers are so cold, and she puts them to her lips, blows on them to warm him.

"I do not hold much with gods, but I have never really felt differently. The gods, if they exist, could not be bothered to help either of us in our childhood. I am not much surprised that they have behaved this way, and at this moment I don't care. I am going to take you home and we are going to drink tea. We are going to make dinner for Chitose and play with her for a while. After that, we are going to have a bath and go to bed. When we're mistreated, we retreat and deal with our injuries. That may not be your nindo, but it is mine."

She can't really pull him up if he doesn't want to go. If he were unconscious, she could heft his weight without too much difficulty, Deva is not a large or heavy man. And was not in life, either. But awake, and in a dark mood, he can easily shift his weight to passively hang in her grasp. She needs him to cooperate.

So Konan pauses, his hands in hers. Standing over him. Like an avenging angel, she thinks, which is not going to help a guilty conscience. She carefully softens her tone, her stance, her body language. Knows that he can read every subconscious twitch. He more than anyone else, in fact.

"Nagato, we can talk about it. We should. But it's very cold out here and I don't want to stay in Madara's house either. I would like to get drunk and possibly fuck you for hours. I think that will help us both cope with, with..." she sighs, her breath puffing out in a visible cloud. "..the reality of what has happened."