[Log] Week 1, Day 6
Who: Inuzuka Kiba (livesbyinstinct ) and Hyuuga Neji (wingedascension )
Status: Active/Closed
Style: Action
Where: Hisato
When: Week 1, Day 6; Afternoonish.
Rating: Standard PG-13
Warnings: Horrible Love Confessions
( Everything is an absolute b l u r of motion... )
Status: Active/Closed
Style: Action
Where: Hisato
When: Week 1, Day 6; Afternoonish.
Rating: Standard PG-13
Warnings: Horrible Love Confessions
( Everything is an absolute b l u r of motion... )
Kiba jogs a few paces down the path, attempting to put some distance between them. Akamaru is close behind him, a smug sort of expression on his muzzle, as if he finds the situation amusing in some way or another. Kiba doesn't. Kiba hadn't even known Neji could cook. That was new. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised--he himself could cook a decent meal if he needed to, though it tended to be more on the rare side of things as far as meals went--but this vibe of sudden domesticity on Neji's part was unnerving. And annoying. And everything else in between. Since when was the Hyuuga actively interested in engaging into anything close to courtship or marriage, unless it was "for the clan," or whatever? Like they'd let their blood intermingle with the Inuzuka's anyway. Too wild, too unproper for the majority of pretentious bastards that perched in the house's branches.
The initial surprise of the situation fading, Kiba's sudden spike of heated emotions are leveling off, and he feels significantly less inclined to retaliate physicall... though he just might if Neji keeps trying to play cute, or whatever the hell he's up to. Kiba doesn't know. In fact, Kiba wouldn't have cared about this in the least if this sort of thing were happening to someone else. He might have even laughed and let things go on just to see what would happen later on down the road. And, you know, throw in a few jibes in the right places here and there, see what buttons he could push to tick someone off. However, since Neji is clearly pursuing him, things suddenly aren't so drop-dead funny anymore.
Kiba also isn't the type kind of person to kid around. Things are to be done bluntly, straight and to the point. No beating around the bush. No bull. He doesn't care if things hurt. The truth hurts, so what? Get over it and move on. Lies hurt much, much worse. It cuts, slashes deep. The truth only stings. Even if the pain is acute, it fades, the scar is not as damning. Lies tend to do much, much worse. Even time can't heal over the worst. Kiba does not deal in lies.]
Look, [his says, tone sharp and biting as he allows the battle chakra to fade, his animalistic features fading back into his skin,] I don't know what's gotten into you, and frankly I don't give a crap or want to know, but quit it. If this is some kind of joke, stop it. If you're really interested, take your interest somewhere else.
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For all that his behavior has been unbecoming, Neji's feelings remain. He loves Kiba with a passion new to him. Loves him, perhaps, as much as he'd once hated his uncle. And in trailing behind the chuunin and Akamaru, he remembers the necessity of respecting Kiba's wishes.
Because he can't force his love and affection on the unwilling. Moreover, he shouldn't. Love is pure, more noble than a physical coupling and if it isn't given freely, it isn't love at all.
Neji speaks in a barely there voice.] Kiba.
[ He's had a handful of things to say, and now, he's reduced to to just speaking his name. Neji breathes, in order than he may endure the humiliation, to retain a facade of dignity. ]
Forgive me. I guess I wasn't hearing you.
[ Following Kiba still, Neji clasps his hands behind his back. It's as passive a stance as any he can take, can even think of, now, as helplessly in thrall with the other as he is. It's too easy to lose himself in the stiff line of Kiba's shoulders, the jet black hair peeking out over the collar of his jacket.
He wants...
Neji just wants. ] Kiba? Will you mind accompanying me for dinner? You have my word as a shinobi and a person that I won't do anything untoward.
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Kiba sighs in return, shoots his friend another long look, stops, and half-turns on his heel. He surveys Neji for a moment from there, eyes narrowed and watching at him with a piercing, evaluating stare. He doesn't regret what he said. He doesn't regret being blunt. And quite frankly, doesn't care--hasn't. He doesn't completely trust Neji yet, unless it consists of trusting what his white battle eyes can see, and the trust that comes with being a shinobi of Konoha, with something of a common goal.
But Neji as a person? That needs time. Kiba knows things are better between him and Hinata--the resentment that was there vanished years ago, but part of him has a hard time forgetting. He always respected Neji as a fighter--always knew that Neji was a better shinobi than he could ever be (though he'd never admit it out loud), but that was far as things went. Things had always been a bit strained, but at least things weren't strained to the breaking point anymore. Things had changed, but not as much as one might want to expect, for as fast as time moves, it's still slow at fixing things. But one of the things Kiba has always known about Neji from his long, boring years at the academy onward, is that the jounin does not lie. It's not a part of him, lying. Not a part of the Hyuuga name. Kiba can respect that much of him, at least. He can't stand lies, not the ones that matter. He's always valued the truth.
Akamaru barks, tilting his head. Well?
Kiba snorts. Digs his feet into the ground.]
Fine. But don't expect anything, all right? It's just dinner, nothing more. Nothing romantic [he fights the urge to roll his eyes] or whatever about it. Just dinner, got it?
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Just dinner, you have my word. And... thank you, Kiba.
[His words, a hush of genuine respect as Neji nods his acceptance of this compromise they've built between the three of them. He shutters his lids; not to shut out the sight of the chuunin nor his nindog. They're a pleasure to view. He wants to take his interest to its logical conclusion, wants to explore this newly born and foreign feeling affecting mind and body equally. He wants it now, wants taste it. Map its boundaries.
And extend them.
He can't. Must not. Will not risk the severing of this tenuous connection.
Neji drops his gaze, veiling the turmoil these unwanted, unasked for emotions evoke. Kiba wears his thoughts and feelings in his voice, the way he moves. His courage lies in the willingness to embrace them.
The son of the Hyuuga Clan respects the manner of courage Kiba projects, as much as he respects his peer's distance. His bewilderment and outrage.
Neji nods, just once, indicating the direction of his home. ]
We're almost there.
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