The air needs to be cleared. [CLOSED]

[hiccup_ninja]

Characters: Gaara Sabaku and Rock Lee
Content: Gaara is recuperating in his room after Mamma Gkika-san was kind enough to re-break his ribs for him. And of course Lee pays him a visit. Because that's what you do for your most important person.
Setting: the Convoy!
Time: WAAAAY back to before Kropmork or all the ship-stealing rumpus. Specifically, a

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[the_blue_beast]

Lee fidgeted nervously, standing outside the door to Gaara's room. He'd been standing outside for a good ten minutes, arguing back and forth with himself. Should he bother Gaara? Should he let his friend heal in peace? He had left rather abruptly when Gaara had been getting his ribs fixed, and, now that he'd had time to think about it, realised how bad that must have looked.

He should have stayed with his most important person, instead of running off. He was definitely not keeping his oath, and all because his heart had been broken. At least Gaara had accepted them and not denied him friendship. What was wrong with him? His sensei would be so disappointed in him.

"I am a failure," he muttered to himself, one hand raised as if to knock. He sighed heavily, resting his forehead against the door. This was pathetic. This wasn't how he was supposed to go about proving to Gaara how much he cared; he'd failed to win over Gaara, and now he was failing to keep his promise.

After another long moment of standing with his forehead pressed against the door, Lee straightened, staring determinedly at the door. He nodded to himself, raised his hand, and knocked firmly. The sound made him wince, but he maintained his firm stance, despite the desire to high tail it out of there. "Su-sumimasen. I do not mean to interrupt you," Lee said through the door, a bit softly, but loud enough to carry. "I--I just wanted to see how you were..."

[hiccup_ninja]

Gaara had actually noticed Lee's presence outside his door, and had been wondering when his friend would bring himself to knock. He could've just opened the door, but with the way the older boy was leaning on it, he might've fallen on the redhead. That would hurt his ribs, see. Gracefully rising from his sitting position on his bed, Gaara wandered over to the door and opened it. Not all the way, mind, but definitely more than enough for Lee to see him and all his shirtless-ness.

"...It's alright. I'm alright." Gaara said, opening the door a bit more and slowly half-turning back into his room, leaving the door open for Lee to show himself in. Even the redhead could see that they needed to talk, which was really saying something. Gaara sat back down on the bed, looking at the door half-expectantly.

[the_blue_beast]

Lee's eyes widened, his cheeks turning red, and he quickly looked away, giving Gaara the chance to put a shirt on if he chose. Lee edged slowly into the room, fidgeting more as he closed the door behind himself.

"I am glad to hear it," he said, sitting down on the other side of the room, looking like the most awkward huddle that ever there was. "Anou, so it went well then? Did she have to rebreak them? I--I am sorry that I was unable to stay with you..."

He trailed off there. He had picked so thoroughly at the bandages on his right hand that they were starting to fray in one place, and he quickly forced himself to stop by sitting on his hands.

[hiccup_ninja]

As a matter of fact, Gaara did not put a shirt on, for he was totally oblivious to any uncomfortable feelings Lee might have over something like him going topless. The pale redhead surveyed the green-clad boy with his usual blank intensity, before his gaze drifted back to the dusty old picture next to the Lunasa rock. Gaara's room was very much devoid of personality, the heart and picture frame being the only personal touches in there (not including the gourd and the unmistakable scent of sand floating around, since they followed Gaara everywhere he went). An awkward silence stretched between them.

"...Are you alright?" he had noticed the other's uncomfortable position and the way he was sitting on his own hands, which he couldn't quite make sense of.

[the_blue_beast]

Lee glanced up, biting his lip. Gaara shouldn't be worried about him. After all, Lee wasn't the one who'd just had his ribs broken. "I am fine, Gaara. I was just concerned about you," he explained, still sitting on his hands, and not quite meeting Gaara's eyes. He kept his gaze firmly over the redhead's shoulder, avoiding as much of Gaara's bare chest as he could.

"I--I should have stayed with you, and I did not, so I--I do not know how things went, but I take it that they went well? But you must be in a lot of pain. Should you be sitting up?"

[hiccup_ninja]

Gaara gave Lee a long, slightly puzzled look; similar to the look some people make over difficult math equations, when they know the correct formula but aren't sure as to how to put it in context. He tilted his head a fraction toward where his green-clad friend was staring over his shoulder, wondering vaguely what it was he was looking at. After all, the redhead hadn't bothered to hang anything up on the walls.

"It went well." he said with a small nod. Gaara considered the last question. In all honesty the answer was likely no, and he was in considerable pain, but that sure as hell wasn't going to stop him. Gaara was too stubborn for that. "Probably not." he said placidly, shifting to sit Indian-style on his bed. Because it was obviously a very comfortable position to sit in.

[the_blue_beast]

Lee blinked, his gaze focusing more firmly on Gaara, a slight blush creep up the back of his neck, making his suit feel uncomfortably hot. "Anou, you should lay down, then. I do not want you to agitate your injuries, after all."

He didn't get up, despite wanting to so that he could insist more firmly that Gaara lay down. After all, it was very important that he take care of his most important person, but it was also very important that he give Gaara his space. The warring thoughts in Lee's head made him fall quiet, his hands sneaking out from beneath his legs, once more fidgeting with his fraying bandages.

[hiccup_ninja]

Gaara watched him hawkishly for a few more minutes (he noted the faint blush), apparently ignoring Lee's suggestion to lie down, instead standing up and moving closer to the older boy. Without a word of warning the redhead not-so-gently seized one bandaged hand by the wrist and started examining the frays in the wrappings.

"We need to talk," Gaara said quietly as his nail scratched at the bandaging where the thumb connected to the hand. "Both about the drunken incident, and other things."

[the_blue_beast]

Lee stared in surprise at Gaara, his mind working slowly to process what his friend was doing. His eyes widened as Gaara snatched up his hand, confusion making him tug his hand for a moment before subsiding.

"Anou," he said, blushing brightly. "I-I am very sorry about that night. I did not mean to act that way. I am very sensitive to alcohol..." he said, trailing off. He glanced at the floor, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. "W-what else did you want to talk about?"

[hiccup_ninja]

"I understand. I have a low alcohol tolerance as well, though yours is far worse." Gaara said calmly, keeping his eyes focused on Lee's hand. He had already found the hidden knot in the wrapping and was plucking at it, causing the bandages to slowly unravel. "I just felt I should tell you that I'm not upset or angered by the event. Though I still fail to understand most of the things you said to me while intoxicated." The redhead already had fairly extensive experience with violent drunks, so he was used to it in a twisted sort of way. Flirty drunks? Not so much.

"The other thing is that I wanted to... to tell you about my past." Gaara said quietly, taking a deep breath the same way people do when they're about to talk about a topic they'd rather avoid, but feel they have to discuss anyway. The redhead carefully shifted into a sitting position next to his friend, his legs folded beneath him, keeping his hold on Lee's now bandage-less hand. This way there would be less stress on his ribs, and his friend won't have to be looking up at him. "I want to understand you, and what it is you feel for me, but you'll never understand me unless you know everything. And I beleive I can finally trust you with that knowledge now."

[the_blue_beast]

Lee stared in shock at Gaara, his fingers flexing unconsciously as the bandages fell away, revealing his scarred hand. He looked down at their joined hands, Gaara's smaller, paler hand holding his. It was such an intimate gesture, and Lee couldn't take his eyes off of it, a small smile curling at the corner of his mouth. He was only half listening to the words Gaara spoke, still too focused on the fact that Gaara was holding his hand.

He blinked, looking up. "Wha--you want to tell me--but are you--" Lee flushed, pleased beyond words that Gaara would trust him. "You trust me?" he repeated, awed. "I am happy to hear it, Gaara. I--" Lee broke off, looking back down at their hands. He closed his fingers, holding Gaara's hand for a moment, squeezing it. "I want you to understand this feeling, very much, and I would like nothing more than to understand you, as well."

I'm not gonna bother writing out all that Gaara says, 'cuz that'd take too long.

[hiccup_ninja]

The redhead was also watching their joined hands, though he seemed more interested in Lee's than his own. Which was to be expected, in a way; after all, he'd seen his own hand countless times. Gaara took another deep breath as pale fingers idly traced the different scars. It was...comfortingly distracting, in its own way.

Slowly, carefully, Gaara told Lee about his childhood. He started, of course, with how his mother had died while giving birth to him, and how that had bought him years of abuse simply because his father could find no one else to blame for his wife's death. How he had developed insomnia at a very young age (which he'd yet to get rid of,) along with semi-psychotic tendencies (which were mostly gone now). He mentioned his older siblings and how they had helped try and lessen the damage, nodding in the direction of the dust-coated photograph next to the heart-rock with a small 'That's them there,' (though it certainly wasn't a very good photo. Gaara looked to be about seven, and was forcing a smile around a rather painful-looking black eye, and his brother and sister both looked equally uncomfortable.) Gaara waited until near the end to admit that it was his father that had originally broken his ribs, along with stabbing him with a letter opener, which was why he'd run away from home at age thirteen. He'd been traveling ever since then --until he joined the Convoy, that is-- wandering through the Badlands and the unsettled regions of Vohemar, trying to uncross his wires.

The redhead fell silent once he was done talking, keeping his eyes glued to their still-linked hands. His throat hurt a bit from talking so much, and his ribs were rebelling against the pain-killers he had taken earlier. He ignored it easily enough though, awaiting some kind of reaction from his best friend.

[the_blue_beast]

Lee gaped unabashedly at Gaara for a long moment after the redhead had finished telling his story. He hadn't said anything during the course of it, his eyes only leaving Gaara's face once to look swiftly at the picture before focusing on Gaara once more.

A soft sound finally escaped Lee, pulling him to the present. "I--I am sorry," he whispered, afraid to say anything. "I had no idea. Wh--" He broke off. "If there is anything I can do to help you, I ask that you tell me. I want only to make you happy--I know I have done a poor job of it recently, and I am deeply sorry." He fell quiet again, looking down at their clasped hands, before his eyes wandered to Gaara's bandaged ribs. He glared at the injury, suddenly righteously angry on Gaara's behalf. "A father should not treat his child that way," he very nearly growled. "He was a bad man, and I am very sorry that he did those things to you. I hope that you heal fully."

He swallowed, looking back at Gaara's face, his own set in a determined fashion. "I am sorry that I put something so great on you when I did not know this, did not know you. I promise I will do better now. I will be worthy of your friendship, if nothing else."

[hiccup_ninja]

"I never blamed my father for hating me," said the redhead simply, his expression something along the lines of wistful. "His most important person died, and he was expected to love her murderer. While it gave him no right to beat me senseless as frequently as he did, I don't blame him for hating me."

Gaara surveyed his friend calmly, though this wasn't that laser-like, piercing stare that he usually subjected everything and everybody to. He was just... watching. Watching Lee. The boy suddenly seemed angry over something, but Gaara couldn't quite understand what.

The little redhead tilted his head a fraction, looking thoughtful. "...You already are worthy, Lee." Gaara said mildly. "You were strong enough to break through the automatic sand shield and hit me, a feat nobody other than my father has ever been able to do. I would not allow a weak person to become my best friend. More importantly, you've shown me more kindness than anyone I've ever met in my life, aside from my own siblings. You treat me like a human being; that's more than I can say for my father or anyone else in my home village."

[the_blue_beast]

Lee's hand clenched. "He should not have blamed you for that. A child--a baby, cannot be held responsible for such things. You are not a murder, Gaara." He shook his head emphatically, deeply unnerved by the fact that his friend would think such a thing about himself.

Lee flushed again, though his anger didn't exactly fade completely at the compliment. "Anou, I--I am happy that you think so, Gaara. I-I feel as though I have been a very bad friend and a very bad--" He glanced at the rock on the table, going suddenly silent. He sighed. "I have not done a good job at keeping my promise to you, and I am very sorry."

His hand twitched slightly, the gentle touches making his fingers tingle. He had always felt an odd combination of proud and embarrassed by the scars on his body, and the way Gaara was treating them now was so intimate and unusual that Lee couldn't help but look down at their hands again. He smiled slightly, still sad and upset that Gaara would blame himself for his mother's death, still angry that Gaara's father had been so horrible to him, but somehow happy despite all of that.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," he whispered, stilling Gaara's questing fingers and lacing them with his own. He squeezed Gaara's hand gently, trying to communicate without words what he was feeling. This was an important bond, and he had taken it far too lightly so far. He would not fail again.

[hiccup_ninja]

Gaara watched Lee for a few long moments, processing what he was being told. Then the corner of his mouth twitched; the closest he'd ever come to a smile in more than four years. "My sister used to tell me the same thing. That I wasn't a murderer." he said quietly, watching his fingers trace the scarred skin on the other's hand. He liked Lee's scars, for some reason. Maybe it was he himself only had three?

"...Even so," Gaara said. "You've been a better friend to me than I've ever known."

The small gesture Lee made was lost to the shirtless redhead, for the most part. But he squeezed the older boy's hand back anyway, since it seemed like the thing to do. Gaara was slowly learning to like this contact. Perhaps he could hold Lee's hand more often, though he didn't like the bandages. The redhead preferred his skin and scars over the the coarse wrappings.