(no subject)
Characters: Temari and Hidan
Setting: Akatsuki Castle, 12 AR
Rating: Going by movie standards, R (language). My standards? PG-13. Tops.
Warnings: The word "fuck". A lot.
Summary: The day Suna signed the peace treaty, neither Temari nor Hidan could sleep. So they do the next best thing: argue. :D
It was well into the night and Temari's brothers had long since gone to bed, but feeling sleepless she had opted to stay up. The day felt wasted with diplomatic process, when really all they had to do was come and sign on the dotted line. They really didn't need to take several hours to do it-- there were no negotiations, no questions, no arguing-- but there certainly was a lot of formality. But it was the proper way to do things, and if one didn't do things the proper way, they were bound to backfire sooner or later. So the best part of the day had been wasted, and she found herself spending her sleepless hours in the great hall in which they'd had their meeting, chatting casually with one of the Akatsuki officials. The place was actually a bit trashed, but the servants had not yet come in to clean because they were still there. She couldn't even rationalize that there was something interesting to talk about, just the usual small talk, if you could consider war and government small talk. Never the less, it was one way to spend her time, and she had nothing better to do. She's cleaned and even polished her fan several times, and besides...he seemed like an interesting fellow.
The halls of the castle were silent, empty, dark when Hidan ventured from his quarters. He always felt restless when the day passed by, and considered himself quite the night owl. Today, filled with treaty signings and formality, was certainly no exception.
It had taken a good deal of effort not to scoff upon sight of the envoys from the Sand, and his remaining willpower not to say anything snide and ruin the whole deal. They sent a woman. A woman. Who the fuck sends a woman to do government shit? Seriously. Still, he managed it, rewarding himself by being the first from the room when the meeting had adjourned.
The following hours into the night had been spent pacing, pacing, pacing his rooms, looking for something, anything, to do. Finally, he allowed himself to go into the hallways, finding solace in the twists and turns the innards of the castle always provided.
He passed the conferrence room several times, but only on the fifth time did he notice the candlelight flickering through the crack of the open door. Curious man as he was, Hidan went inside, finding the woman--princess, whatever--sitting alone at the long table.
Of course he had to sit and chat. Who was he, Kakuzu?
While Temari was glad to have company to waste a couple hours with, there was only so much one could say to someone your country was supposedly neutral with. It wasn't that she had any trouble keeping her mouth shut on certain things, but eventually just ran out of things to say. And while they weren't at war, they also weren't allies. So topics came and went quickly, as she couldn't get into any sort of detail on most things, and you couldn't discuss things like the servants, cooking, and the villagers with a man...especially with this one. He didn't seem to give off a very friendly aura. Not that she gave damn. Right now, he was just the next best thing to staring at the wall.
As the topic of weaponry came and went even more rapidly than the others, Temari simply couldn't hold her comments back. She was overly frustrated, and despite all her lessons on how to be polite and hold her tongue, she had to complain to someone. "Please tell me, if you know...why must I come all the way here, sit through some over-glorified and over-complicated announcement of neutrality and waste my time, which I could have spent doing something useful?" She paused, then quickly added, "I apologize if my comments are out of line, but I do not believe them to be so."
It only took Hidan an hour to wonder if this woman--what was her name? Fuck...--truly was the lesser of two evils. While her company was preferred over that of the emptyness the manslaves provided, her conversational skills were stiff--mediocre, at best.
Topics flew by at an alarming rate, and while Hidan was one of the more talkative members of the Akatsuki Organization, he was simply running low on topics to discuss. He'd thrown everything he could out there--territories, combat, war strategy, and had even commented on the weapon he'd seen her cart about the castle--only to have the topic dismissed (for lack of better term) with a curt reply.
But even stone walls had their cracks, and Hidan couldn't help but laugh when this one snapped at him.
"You and me both, babe, are out of this loop," he said, an amused grin plastered on his face. "And hell, if you're outta line, I can't even fucking imagine what I must be--bitching and complaining every-which-way. Seriously." He looked her up and down, considering his next words. "Hell, I don't know why you and your brothers are here at all. Dunno what your country is fucking thinking, sending fucking kids to do government shit. Seriously."
That was Temari's cue to loosen up. She never knew anymore when she had to put on her diplomat face and when she could be herself and speak freely, and often opted for the former...it was just easier than burning bridges. Some people tended to be a little sensitive about those sorts of things...but obviously not this guy. So she allowed her rigid posture to slip...but what she could not let slip was that "kids" comment. Who did he think he was to call her a kid? She was nearly an adult in age, and beyond that in mentality, or so she liked to tell herself. For that matter, who did he think SHE was to be talking down to her like that?
"I don't think you have any right to..." No, getting defensive won't get you anywhere, she thought to herself. "Alright then smart ass, who do you propose they send?"
She was surprisingly calm about it. Hidan had certainly not expected that--he had expected her to snap at him again, how dare he, who did he think he was, blah blah blah. Well, at least it got her to loosen up a little; she didn't look like she had a pole rammed into her spine anymore, and she'd dropped the formality.
Her face was still blank, though. That wouldn't do.
"Who do I propose?" he repeated. "I dunno, how 'bout the fucking king? Ruler that's too chicken-shit to sign a treaty can't be a very good ruler, seriously. And sending his fucking daughter...I'm not a father, or anything, but sending a fucking woman just ain't a very smart idea. I wouldn't be able to've done that. Seriously."
"Sending the woman who's going to be queen isn't a good idea, huh?" Temari was a little more than offended. She wasn't very tolerant of sexist pigs like this guy, but going off the hook would only prove him right-- that she was an immature, foolish child. And she couldn't let him win now. It just wasn't in her nature to let guys like this, or anyone for that matter, best her. She did her best to wipe any anger from her face and to keep calm. Inside she was shaking with rage but she couldn't let that show.
"So tell me then, how do you expect me to rule a kingdom if I can't be trusted to run simple errands? Or are you just going to tell me I'm not fit to rule, either?" Her words had more sarcasm in them than she'd wanted. Too late to fix it now. "Because if you are, I'd simply love to know what the logic behind that is."
Hidan tilted his head. He wasn't quite sure what he'd said to make her so angry--which he could tell she was, since her knuckles werne't white a few minutes ago. He paused a moment, then laughed.
"Babe, lemme assure you--I'm not being a dick," he told her, chuckling. "I'm just saying your dad's a fucking idiot for letting you go without a better escort than your little brothers. I'm sure they're tough, seriously, but say some bandit came along when you all were coming here, and saw you." He laughed again. "I dunno if you're aware, but you're fucking sexy, and there are a lot of guys out there less gentlemanly than me. And bein' a princess and all, I don't think you'd get combat training--even if you are from Sand."
Her expression was still unreadable, so Hidan was unsure if what he was saying was making sense. He doubted it, but laughed again anyway.
A million thoughts ran through her head, as she tried to prioritize and decide what would make the best come back. He kept mentioning her father...he was long gone, but mentioning that might show weakness, grief, if it seemed like that was her first thought. She didn't want to let out that she had training, even to this relative stranger so far away from home, so that was out but she did want to get the point across that she wasn't a weakling...and wait a second, what did he call her?
"Wait I...uhh..well I..." All she could do was stutter. For all the training in formal discussion she'd had, no one had thought to teach her how to approach such a brazen comment, and no one had ever said anything like that to her before. She'd never even thought of herself as much of a girl, and really felt like one of the guys. So she never thought of herself as good looking, or someone a man might find attractive. She'd been so busy with other things, she'd never had time to consider men as something other than a training partner, or just someone there. In fact, it was the first time someone of the opposite gender had given her a compliment out of a polite context. At least she thought it was supposed to be a compliment...
"Well...I'm not just some frilly, girly girl princess you know!" It was all her rather surprised mind could come up with. "I can defend myself very well, thank you!"
Hidan couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. He'd heard tell that the soon-to-be-queen of Suna was unshakable, a wall of unbreakable ice and formality. How boring, he thought when he'd first seen her. How boring indeed.
But he'd gotten her to stutter. It hadn't taken any subtle, offhand gestures to do so (as it often took to take the village girls aback). In fact, it was only one blatant comment. One that was very true, and he was surprised she was reacting this way; he'd figured it would be ignored, or responded to with a chilly silence.
Her comeback to his other statement--about her not being able to defend herself--was all but laughable, and Hidan greatly resisted the urge to say something along the lines of "Prove it." A slow, leering smirk spread across his lips, and he simply responded with, "Oh really."
"Yes, really!" Temari spat in reply. She had no clue what he wanted her to say now, and now that she had let her childish nature shine through, she couldn't even try to regain her composure. He would see right through it. She really would have loved to smack him upside the head with her fan...if only she had it with her, and if only she thought she could even get away with it. She was dying to prove to him that she was no weak woman. But starting a fight here and now...that would be counter productive. But she couldn't tolerate this chauvenism.
She pushed her chair back and took a stance in front of him, hands on her hips. "You...you think because I'm a woman, and I'm young, means I can't fight for myself? Well let me tell you something, I can defend myself perfectly well, I have on many occasions, and I will again if I need to! I've taken special measures to ensure that, and I'm not going to have some...some random jerk whose name I can't even remember tell me otherwise!"
The smile wiped from his face. He sat perfectly still, letting her speak, and watched her curiously. When he saw that she was done, he stood, slowly, deliberately. He wasn't offended or angry--Hidan wasn't the type to let stupid things like this get to him--but he did wonder if this girl--this princess--knew her place in this castle.
Ever since she had stood, his hand had come to rest on the handle of his scythe; a gesture of habit more than caution, but reassuring nonetheless.
Hidan was used to offending people, but never someone he'd have to apologize to. It was unfamiliar territory to him.
"Look, don't get your panties in a bunch. I think you can't fight 'cause you're a woman--big fucking deal. You say you can fight? Fine. Maybe you can. But this day in age, it's not like I have any better guesses to go off of." He looked her up and down again, canting his head. "Still don't look like no fucking fighter to me, but what do I know. Seriously."
Temari had no comeback for that. How many more times could she repeat herself before it got old and tired? She had let herself get too riled up and now she realized that she had left so many ways for him to prove her wrong, too many flaws in her argument. She knew it was her own damn fault, too, and she mentally cursed herself. She couldn't go back and correct herself...that would seem desperate. Flustered by someone actually speaking to her this way, she had said what came to her mind. People had been jerks to her before, true, but this was...this was different. She didn't know how-- it simply was. She decided that there was no reply that could save her and went for broke.
"Fine, think whatever you want to think...see how much I really care anyway," she said with a glare. "You just think you're hot stuff, because I'm sure the girls are all over you, and now you're mad because I'm not following suit. If that's your issue, it takes a lot more than good looks and attitude to get my attention."
This took him slightly aback. He knew he was good looking (of course he did; after all the maintenance he did on his appearence, he'd better be), and he could certainly lay on the charm when he felt like it, but...
Did she really think he was hitting on her?
Hidan let out a sharp laugh, sitting back down and propping his right leg up on his left knee. "Honey, you can't seriously think I'm trying to string you along. I mean, sure, getting you riled up was fun, and you're even sexier when you yell, but you're really not my type," he informed her, amused. "Besides, it seems to me I already have your attention since we've been here for," he looked over his shoulder at the grandfather clock that was ticking away in its corner of the room. "Four hours." He met her eyes again, a grin tweaking at his lips. "You don't look like the kind of person to stick with a person who pisses you off for more than twenty minutes."
Temari glanced at the clock...had it really been that long? Shit. "I...well I..." She really couldn't refute any of that. She did care what he thought. Why did she care? No matter how much she dug into memory, she couldn't even remember his name, and would probably never have anything more to do with him after she left in the morning. Sure he was sexist, and she absolutely hated being underestimated-- her pride simply could not stand it-- but she'd let that slide off her back before many times. Why not now? Why did was she so riled up now? Nothing so trivial had ever riled her up.
But if she'd been here for four hours, so had he. And he had no obligation to entertain her...
"Well you've stayed here this long too! What's your excuse?"
What, indeed. Hidan had never been much of a sleeper (although once he did get to sleep, he was notorious for staying unconcious for a good twelve hours), but he'd never bothered to spend his entire night with anyone. She wasn't special, this girl; interesting, sure, but nothing he hadn't run into before.
So why was he still here? He was certainly not the type to get attached, and certainly not to people who bit his head off every other comment, but for some reason, he didn't want to leave this room. At least, not until she had.
"I don't have an excuse. Seriously," he admitted. "But I'll have to admit, this is way fucking better than sleeping."
Temari was itching to leave, get out of this stuffy hall, get away from...him. But was this really the best thing he had to do? That's kind of sad, she thought to herself. But if it was true that he was just bored, and his sole intention was to keep himself occupied, like he implied...maybe she could tolerate him a little longer. She moved to sit down, but gave it a second thought. Instead she pushed her chair in-- if only to be polite to the cleaning staff-- and took a few steps toward the door.
"Well...whatever you want to do is up to you. But I'd like to find someplace more comfortable to sit...the maids haven't been in here yet so it's still disgusting. And these chairs hurt my butt. Maybe you'd be kind enough to show me to somewhere I could relax, and...you could..." She hesistated. She didn't want to say it. But something tugged at her. Maybe it was all that politeness coaching. "You could join me if you'd like."
And the mask was back on; but Hidan couldn't say he thought it was a bad thing. This princess, she was, apparently, allowed to show her real personality once in a blue moon, so when he'd barrelled through the wall she'd prepared over many years, it had ended up stripping her of everything she knew. Left her bare, raw.
It was refreshing from the typical castle-persona, but with a personality like hers, fiery, passionate, proud, Hidan could only take in short doses.
He stood, grinning, and made a sweeping gesture toward the door with his arm. "Sure. The kitchen staff is probably still up, and you gotta have some of the shit they make. And we have fucking couches in there, seriously," he added before she could cut him off.
"And I'll stay with you...as long as you don't bite my fucking head off again."
Setting: Akatsuki Castle, 12 AR
Rating: Going by movie standards, R (language). My standards? PG-13. Tops.
Warnings: The word "fuck". A lot.
Summary: The day Suna signed the peace treaty, neither Temari nor Hidan could sleep. So they do the next best thing: argue. :D
It was well into the night and Temari's brothers had long since gone to bed, but feeling sleepless she had opted to stay up. The day felt wasted with diplomatic process, when really all they had to do was come and sign on the dotted line. They really didn't need to take several hours to do it-- there were no negotiations, no questions, no arguing-- but there certainly was a lot of formality. But it was the proper way to do things, and if one didn't do things the proper way, they were bound to backfire sooner or later. So the best part of the day had been wasted, and she found herself spending her sleepless hours in the great hall in which they'd had their meeting, chatting casually with one of the Akatsuki officials. The place was actually a bit trashed, but the servants had not yet come in to clean because they were still there. She couldn't even rationalize that there was something interesting to talk about, just the usual small talk, if you could consider war and government small talk. Never the less, it was one way to spend her time, and she had nothing better to do. She's cleaned and even polished her fan several times, and besides...he seemed like an interesting fellow.
The halls of the castle were silent, empty, dark when Hidan ventured from his quarters. He always felt restless when the day passed by, and considered himself quite the night owl. Today, filled with treaty signings and formality, was certainly no exception.
It had taken a good deal of effort not to scoff upon sight of the envoys from the Sand, and his remaining willpower not to say anything snide and ruin the whole deal. They sent a woman. A woman. Who the fuck sends a woman to do government shit? Seriously. Still, he managed it, rewarding himself by being the first from the room when the meeting had adjourned.
The following hours into the night had been spent pacing, pacing, pacing his rooms, looking for something, anything, to do. Finally, he allowed himself to go into the hallways, finding solace in the twists and turns the innards of the castle always provided.
He passed the conferrence room several times, but only on the fifth time did he notice the candlelight flickering through the crack of the open door. Curious man as he was, Hidan went inside, finding the woman--princess, whatever--sitting alone at the long table.
Of course he had to sit and chat. Who was he, Kakuzu?
While Temari was glad to have company to waste a couple hours with, there was only so much one could say to someone your country was supposedly neutral with. It wasn't that she had any trouble keeping her mouth shut on certain things, but eventually just ran out of things to say. And while they weren't at war, they also weren't allies. So topics came and went quickly, as she couldn't get into any sort of detail on most things, and you couldn't discuss things like the servants, cooking, and the villagers with a man...especially with this one. He didn't seem to give off a very friendly aura. Not that she gave damn. Right now, he was just the next best thing to staring at the wall.
As the topic of weaponry came and went even more rapidly than the others, Temari simply couldn't hold her comments back. She was overly frustrated, and despite all her lessons on how to be polite and hold her tongue, she had to complain to someone. "Please tell me, if you know...why must I come all the way here, sit through some over-glorified and over-complicated announcement of neutrality and waste my time, which I could have spent doing something useful?" She paused, then quickly added, "I apologize if my comments are out of line, but I do not believe them to be so."
It only took Hidan an hour to wonder if this woman--what was her name? Fuck...--truly was the lesser of two evils. While her company was preferred over that of the emptyness the manslaves provided, her conversational skills were stiff--mediocre, at best.
Topics flew by at an alarming rate, and while Hidan was one of the more talkative members of the Akatsuki Organization, he was simply running low on topics to discuss. He'd thrown everything he could out there--territories, combat, war strategy, and had even commented on the weapon he'd seen her cart about the castle--only to have the topic dismissed (for lack of better term) with a curt reply.
But even stone walls had their cracks, and Hidan couldn't help but laugh when this one snapped at him.
"You and me both, babe, are out of this loop," he said, an amused grin plastered on his face. "And hell, if you're outta line, I can't even fucking imagine what I must be--bitching and complaining every-which-way. Seriously." He looked her up and down, considering his next words. "Hell, I don't know why you and your brothers are here at all. Dunno what your country is fucking thinking, sending fucking kids to do government shit. Seriously."
That was Temari's cue to loosen up. She never knew anymore when she had to put on her diplomat face and when she could be herself and speak freely, and often opted for the former...it was just easier than burning bridges. Some people tended to be a little sensitive about those sorts of things...but obviously not this guy. So she allowed her rigid posture to slip...but what she could not let slip was that "kids" comment. Who did he think he was to call her a kid? She was nearly an adult in age, and beyond that in mentality, or so she liked to tell herself. For that matter, who did he think SHE was to be talking down to her like that?
"I don't think you have any right to..." No, getting defensive won't get you anywhere, she thought to herself. "Alright then smart ass, who do you propose they send?"
She was surprisingly calm about it. Hidan had certainly not expected that--he had expected her to snap at him again, how dare he, who did he think he was, blah blah blah. Well, at least it got her to loosen up a little; she didn't look like she had a pole rammed into her spine anymore, and she'd dropped the formality.
Her face was still blank, though. That wouldn't do.
"Who do I propose?" he repeated. "I dunno, how 'bout the fucking king? Ruler that's too chicken-shit to sign a treaty can't be a very good ruler, seriously. And sending his fucking daughter...I'm not a father, or anything, but sending a fucking woman just ain't a very smart idea. I wouldn't be able to've done that. Seriously."
"Sending the woman who's going to be queen isn't a good idea, huh?" Temari was a little more than offended. She wasn't very tolerant of sexist pigs like this guy, but going off the hook would only prove him right-- that she was an immature, foolish child. And she couldn't let him win now. It just wasn't in her nature to let guys like this, or anyone for that matter, best her. She did her best to wipe any anger from her face and to keep calm. Inside she was shaking with rage but she couldn't let that show.
"So tell me then, how do you expect me to rule a kingdom if I can't be trusted to run simple errands? Or are you just going to tell me I'm not fit to rule, either?" Her words had more sarcasm in them than she'd wanted. Too late to fix it now. "Because if you are, I'd simply love to know what the logic behind that is."
Hidan tilted his head. He wasn't quite sure what he'd said to make her so angry--which he could tell she was, since her knuckles werne't white a few minutes ago. He paused a moment, then laughed.
"Babe, lemme assure you--I'm not being a dick," he told her, chuckling. "I'm just saying your dad's a fucking idiot for letting you go without a better escort than your little brothers. I'm sure they're tough, seriously, but say some bandit came along when you all were coming here, and saw you." He laughed again. "I dunno if you're aware, but you're fucking sexy, and there are a lot of guys out there less gentlemanly than me. And bein' a princess and all, I don't think you'd get combat training--even if you are from Sand."
Her expression was still unreadable, so Hidan was unsure if what he was saying was making sense. He doubted it, but laughed again anyway.
A million thoughts ran through her head, as she tried to prioritize and decide what would make the best come back. He kept mentioning her father...he was long gone, but mentioning that might show weakness, grief, if it seemed like that was her first thought. She didn't want to let out that she had training, even to this relative stranger so far away from home, so that was out but she did want to get the point across that she wasn't a weakling...and wait a second, what did he call her?
"Wait I...uhh..well I..." All she could do was stutter. For all the training in formal discussion she'd had, no one had thought to teach her how to approach such a brazen comment, and no one had ever said anything like that to her before. She'd never even thought of herself as much of a girl, and really felt like one of the guys. So she never thought of herself as good looking, or someone a man might find attractive. She'd been so busy with other things, she'd never had time to consider men as something other than a training partner, or just someone there. In fact, it was the first time someone of the opposite gender had given her a compliment out of a polite context. At least she thought it was supposed to be a compliment...
"Well...I'm not just some frilly, girly girl princess you know!" It was all her rather surprised mind could come up with. "I can defend myself very well, thank you!"
Hidan couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. He'd heard tell that the soon-to-be-queen of Suna was unshakable, a wall of unbreakable ice and formality. How boring, he thought when he'd first seen her. How boring indeed.
But he'd gotten her to stutter. It hadn't taken any subtle, offhand gestures to do so (as it often took to take the village girls aback). In fact, it was only one blatant comment. One that was very true, and he was surprised she was reacting this way; he'd figured it would be ignored, or responded to with a chilly silence.
Her comeback to his other statement--about her not being able to defend herself--was all but laughable, and Hidan greatly resisted the urge to say something along the lines of "Prove it." A slow, leering smirk spread across his lips, and he simply responded with, "Oh really."
"Yes, really!" Temari spat in reply. She had no clue what he wanted her to say now, and now that she had let her childish nature shine through, she couldn't even try to regain her composure. He would see right through it. She really would have loved to smack him upside the head with her fan...if only she had it with her, and if only she thought she could even get away with it. She was dying to prove to him that she was no weak woman. But starting a fight here and now...that would be counter productive. But she couldn't tolerate this chauvenism.
She pushed her chair back and took a stance in front of him, hands on her hips. "You...you think because I'm a woman, and I'm young, means I can't fight for myself? Well let me tell you something, I can defend myself perfectly well, I have on many occasions, and I will again if I need to! I've taken special measures to ensure that, and I'm not going to have some...some random jerk whose name I can't even remember tell me otherwise!"
The smile wiped from his face. He sat perfectly still, letting her speak, and watched her curiously. When he saw that she was done, he stood, slowly, deliberately. He wasn't offended or angry--Hidan wasn't the type to let stupid things like this get to him--but he did wonder if this girl--this princess--knew her place in this castle.
Ever since she had stood, his hand had come to rest on the handle of his scythe; a gesture of habit more than caution, but reassuring nonetheless.
Hidan was used to offending people, but never someone he'd have to apologize to. It was unfamiliar territory to him.
"Look, don't get your panties in a bunch. I think you can't fight 'cause you're a woman--big fucking deal. You say you can fight? Fine. Maybe you can. But this day in age, it's not like I have any better guesses to go off of." He looked her up and down again, canting his head. "Still don't look like no fucking fighter to me, but what do I know. Seriously."
Temari had no comeback for that. How many more times could she repeat herself before it got old and tired? She had let herself get too riled up and now she realized that she had left so many ways for him to prove her wrong, too many flaws in her argument. She knew it was her own damn fault, too, and she mentally cursed herself. She couldn't go back and correct herself...that would seem desperate. Flustered by someone actually speaking to her this way, she had said what came to her mind. People had been jerks to her before, true, but this was...this was different. She didn't know how-- it simply was. She decided that there was no reply that could save her and went for broke.
"Fine, think whatever you want to think...see how much I really care anyway," she said with a glare. "You just think you're hot stuff, because I'm sure the girls are all over you, and now you're mad because I'm not following suit. If that's your issue, it takes a lot more than good looks and attitude to get my attention."
This took him slightly aback. He knew he was good looking (of course he did; after all the maintenance he did on his appearence, he'd better be), and he could certainly lay on the charm when he felt like it, but...
Did she really think he was hitting on her?
Hidan let out a sharp laugh, sitting back down and propping his right leg up on his left knee. "Honey, you can't seriously think I'm trying to string you along. I mean, sure, getting you riled up was fun, and you're even sexier when you yell, but you're really not my type," he informed her, amused. "Besides, it seems to me I already have your attention since we've been here for," he looked over his shoulder at the grandfather clock that was ticking away in its corner of the room. "Four hours." He met her eyes again, a grin tweaking at his lips. "You don't look like the kind of person to stick with a person who pisses you off for more than twenty minutes."
Temari glanced at the clock...had it really been that long? Shit. "I...well I..." She really couldn't refute any of that. She did care what he thought. Why did she care? No matter how much she dug into memory, she couldn't even remember his name, and would probably never have anything more to do with him after she left in the morning. Sure he was sexist, and she absolutely hated being underestimated-- her pride simply could not stand it-- but she'd let that slide off her back before many times. Why not now? Why did was she so riled up now? Nothing so trivial had ever riled her up.
But if she'd been here for four hours, so had he. And he had no obligation to entertain her...
"Well you've stayed here this long too! What's your excuse?"
What, indeed. Hidan had never been much of a sleeper (although once he did get to sleep, he was notorious for staying unconcious for a good twelve hours), but he'd never bothered to spend his entire night with anyone. She wasn't special, this girl; interesting, sure, but nothing he hadn't run into before.
So why was he still here? He was certainly not the type to get attached, and certainly not to people who bit his head off every other comment, but for some reason, he didn't want to leave this room. At least, not until she had.
"I don't have an excuse. Seriously," he admitted. "But I'll have to admit, this is way fucking better than sleeping."
Temari was itching to leave, get out of this stuffy hall, get away from...him. But was this really the best thing he had to do? That's kind of sad, she thought to herself. But if it was true that he was just bored, and his sole intention was to keep himself occupied, like he implied...maybe she could tolerate him a little longer. She moved to sit down, but gave it a second thought. Instead she pushed her chair in-- if only to be polite to the cleaning staff-- and took a few steps toward the door.
"Well...whatever you want to do is up to you. But I'd like to find someplace more comfortable to sit...the maids haven't been in here yet so it's still disgusting. And these chairs hurt my butt. Maybe you'd be kind enough to show me to somewhere I could relax, and...you could..." She hesistated. She didn't want to say it. But something tugged at her. Maybe it was all that politeness coaching. "You could join me if you'd like."
And the mask was back on; but Hidan couldn't say he thought it was a bad thing. This princess, she was, apparently, allowed to show her real personality once in a blue moon, so when he'd barrelled through the wall she'd prepared over many years, it had ended up stripping her of everything she knew. Left her bare, raw.
It was refreshing from the typical castle-persona, but with a personality like hers, fiery, passionate, proud, Hidan could only take in short doses.
He stood, grinning, and made a sweeping gesture toward the door with his arm. "Sure. The kitchen staff is probably still up, and you gotta have some of the shit they make. And we have fucking couches in there, seriously," he added before she could cut him off.
"And I'll stay with you...as long as you don't bite my fucking head off again."