[Action Thread]

[shade_mod]

Who: Everyone and anyone
What: The midnight fireworks display
When: Midnight
Where: Konoha square
Warnings: TBA

Comments

[hotterthanhades]

It's not that he disliked festivals. In all actuality, it made his job as a demon [you know, that whole 'bring them to damnation' spiel] rather easy. People were more open to contact, not to mention a variety of other things. One of which had gotten him into his current mess.

Sasuke hated being pursued. Wait. That's not entirely true. He hated being pursued by what he tended to term one time deals. Having acquired what he wanted [a lovely little letter guaranteeing him complete access to the governments latest little weapons project], he had no further need to continue contact with the girl - who, as he had judged rather correctly, was one of those clingy, love-me-now-and-forever types [all of which had ultimately lead to a rather begrudging fuck].

He was done. She wasn't.

Unfortunately for her, what he was was well beyond her. With a roll of his eyes and puff of smoke blacker than the dead of night, he disappeared.

Only to reappear at the edge of the river where he was immediately assaulted by the presence of one of them. Lips set in a coolly disaffected line [though irritation clearly sat within his eyes], Sasuke turned to face his could-be opponent. But when he caught sight of the all too familiar form, he eased up, muscles shifting into calm readiness as fingers tugged at the midnight blue yukata draped easily over his figure.

"Tch. . .only you."

[silkcranes]

Neji's body even didn't even bother with the reflex of tensing. It was as if those days spent at Sasuke's apartment had acclimated him to the demon's presence so well that aside from the soft wave of otherness that came with Sasuke's arrival, there was nothing but the cool sensation of familiarity. Neji let out a breath of irritation at that thought, that he could once again be familiar with Sasuke (or, had he ever lost that familiarity?) so easily. It was as if the human form was betraying him, though Neji wasn't entirely sure that it was just the body. After all, he made no move to leave.

"Only." Neji echoed, eyes sweeping from the water to carefully take Sasuke in, his voice almost questioning though holding a strange sense of candidness to it. Last he had spoken to Sasuke, the other had seemed rather irritated at him. Sometimes Neji thought about what he'd said and felt a choking sensation around his neck, the invisible device wrapped around thin and delicate as spider's thread but stronger than steel. Mostly, he just remembered the pressure of Sasuke's lips against his own.

But that sense of anger had kept him skirting whatever path he thought he might find Sasuke on. Perhaps not even that--Neji didn't fear such an emotion. It was something along the lines of not wanting to admit that the other had been at least partially right. After all, it had been a long time since Neji had been given the opportunity to feel something like dissent--like things weren't right in Heaven or anywhere else. Like bitterness. It had been a long time since he'd felt much of anything, really.

"You sound disappointed." Neji wondered if he was, and was irritated when the answer came up negative.

[hotterthanhades]

"Not particularly," Sasuke replied evenly. He wasn't, really. There were worse people he could have found himself confronted with, and though Neji wasn't the ultimate person he wanted to face, he was almost as good.

Almost.

If only there wasn't that devastating reminder that Neji was no longer living his apartment, that their last real meeting had been spent on embittered words born of anger [frustration] and the proverbial door slamming in the face of his want. Sasuke could feel a frown threatening to deep dive on his lips, but he was quick to control the impulse. Instead there was only the slightest hint of a smirk and a flash of black in his eyes.

What was he but persistent. Running a hand through his hair, the fallen Cherub took in the sights around him, reveled in the fact that once more he was alone with the angel who had so far denied him at every turn. Fingers idly set about straightening out the last bit of his yukata, stopping only to trace the gilded red fans that were splayed out haphazardly over the dark material.

He took a step forward. "Shouldn't you be with the rest of your kind? There's plenty of them running around this place."

[silkcranes]

"No." Neji responded, suddenly assaulted with the exact location of each and every one of them that was here tonight. Naruto, the square away. Shikamaru, closer still yet no more near in thought. Kankurou, who was no longer an angel and his two counterparts; they were all drifting along like bugs around a lamp. It seemed rather pointless that they were here, and Neji wondered what it had been that had drawn him. Curiosity, like himself? Or a simple wish to perhaps get some goodness in?

Neji was well aware that there were far more demons in this place than there were any of the Heavenly persuasion.

"If I wanted to be with them, I would go back." Neji said needlessly, and though that was true, it wasn't as straightforward a sentence as it seemed. He hardly wanted to be with them in Heaven. It seemed more likely that Heaven was his own private room rather than a place created to hold the glorious power of God and his disciples. Neji was more a reculse in Heaven than he was on earth, but the presence of the rest of them could surely turn him into something similar.

"What about you." He said after a moment. There were plenty of demons about causing trouble, it was all through the air. It really was something of a giant chess board down here; Neji had never bothered to care before. He couldn't help but think it was just for their own amusement, and for some reason that thought seemed fitting. After all, what were angels and demons but the players and God the clock and the pawns...the humans?

"I wouldn't have thought to see you here." It was only half-true, but still admissible.

[hotterthanhades]

There was only a raise of his brow to answer Neji's statements. Something fed by amusement and the simple thought of there's plenty for me right here. Or maybe [and here Sasuke wasn't entirely sure, or maybe he was and intended his action to be taken either way] it was more along the lines of I've already done my demonic duty for the day. It hardly mattered, really, as his entire attention was now focused of the one that had gotten away. So to speak.

With an easy swagger, Sasuke found himself beside the older angel. Took a moment to simply appraise the situation, and Neji himself, before turning his gaze out over the water. It was easy to see now why Neji would rather stay here then venture forth to seek out others like him. Almost like watching diamonds shatter over glass.

That thought, though, was something of a trouble. He wasn't supposed to understand these things, least of all about Neji. But there was satisfaction in that thought as well. Because he was who he was, and found a quiet delight in knowing that he could still come to terms with things long out of reach.

Settling in alongside Neji, fingers pressing into the bark behind him, Sasuke leaned in to whisper [an act loaded with purpose, as he knew the power of proximity and the subtle workings of warmth] into Neji's ear. "Come back to my apartment."

And he did nothing to stifle the underlying context of It's different now without you as it streamed out with his words.

[silkcranes]

That did draw a slightly sharp look from Neji--or at least turned his head. It was difficult to discern much expression on his pale face other than a curious blankness, though there was the faintest amount of uncertainty that rested in his eyes. He knew that Sasuke wasn't the kind to forgive and forget (after all, wasn't he chasing something? Or was it really just that someone that Neji had already faced completely by accident?) and the whispered request struck him as oddly allowing. Made him think that his previous trespasses trough the realm of Sasuke's irritations had been less severe than previously imagined.

But Neji wasn't really one to feel anger, and that which he had felt at the time had left a rather large impression on him. He couldn't be certain that what Sasuke had felt had been anything more than transient--and that was the problem with others. Neji had approved of his existance more when he'd only had to worry about himself and the calm wash of nothingness, but it seemed like it was impossible to go back to that now.

Studying Sasuke's face, Neji schooled his features once more. He didn't really have to ask why to know what Sasuke would tell him if he did ask. Maybe he didn't want to hear that answer, and wanted to hold onto the one that was implied if not in tone, then in something else. After all, Neji was tired of being the one to remember how things were (or weren't, as the case may be; there was so very little to go off of when one looked at the time spent before the fall and the opposite: the rest of eternity); the thought that his presence may have meant anything to Sasuke at all made him feel strangely.

"Why--" he said, the word escaping, but not without lack of hesitation. He knew what the answer should have been--not a question but a distinctly firm No. And yet that was not what his lips formed and said, and it was really quite impossible to hide from anything under the lamplight, let alone his own conscience.

[hotterthanhades]

It was more [better] than he had expected from the Voice of God. However, there would be no surprise flitting over his features as he studied Neji's face. After all, he was who he was, and that was a hell of a lot more than most angels and demons could boast. Why shouldn't he be able to pull such responses from the older angel?

Sasuke allowed a smile to play about the corners of his mouth. Something small that bordered on genuine. Maybe his efforts hadn't been in vain after all. But he understood himself a bit too well to know that a little question of why wouldn't be enough to dissolve the bitterness Neji had inspired with his constant rejections.

This, though, might help ease the feeling.

When his answer came, it was a satisfied purr [a sound most humans found irresistible though he himself was rather oblivious to making any conscious effort to be such]. "Hnn. . . Honestly?"

Perhaps honesty was vicious. Maybe that's why, when around those such as Neji, he couldn't help but indulge in it. Entertain the notion of honest for all the ways it could serve his ends. All the ways it fed his anger, his obsession. Sasuke blew out gently against Neji's neck, absently touched the tip of his nose to skin.

"Because I miss your presence there."

[silkcranes]

The answer was already ready on his lips. No you don't, the same as it had been when Sasuke had uttered similar words upon their first meeting on earth. Yet for some reason it stayed locked behind his lips, the vague hint of almost wanting to believe it keeping the words trapped inside. He knew lies--could detect them like sin because that's what they were. But with Sasuke everything was muddled, so much that Neji hardly trusted himself at times. Instead of responding, he let out a soft sigh, directing his eyes toward the sky as opposed to the water.

Sasuke's warm breath against his skin and the faintest hint of contact drew Neji down from the rational line of thought he'd been trying to grasp at. Trying to understand his own feelings on the situation seemed futile at this point because they didn't appear to be making any sense. He felt oddly comfortable at Sasuke's apartment, but he couldn't figure out if it was memory that was making him feel that way or if it was something else. Either way, he knew what he should say.

What Neji wanted, though, was a slice of free will. He knew he probably shouldn't be testing his chains, but it was hard not to.

But shouldn't the answer already have been given if it was true that he had none? Shouldn't he have been compelled to say No again and again, shouldn't he be in physical pain for even thinking of saying yes? His prickling skin drew even those thoughts away, leaving him frustrated enough to close his eyes, unable to focus on anything but the sensation--which was even more frustrating though he didn't move away.

Finally, Neji shifted rather uncomfortably.

"Hn." He said, and instead of sounding like a grunt, it sounded something like concession. Even if he wasn't sure what he was agreeing to. Don't trust him, he told himself while at the same time blocking his ears.

[hotterthanhades]

Lips twitched into a victorious smile against Neji's neck when he heard that sound. Giving in. Yet, for a moment, Sasuke wasn't sure who was really faltering when it came to their side of line. Was it him, masking his own honest wants with words coated in lust and arrogance?

Or was it Neji? The Voice of God who was now suddenly betraying the reason for his existence. Sasuke sighed softly before pressing his mouth to the older angel's neck. A gentle kiss that could have easily passed for a lure if it wasn't for the way his hands refusing to pursue the course. Instead, they remained carefully by his sides, fingernails digging into the bark as self-control fought the very essence of his demonic nature.

The act was as close to a prayer as Sasuke got these days. And he could almost claim guilt for his previous actions of the day [the girl still lingering upon his peripheral senses] if not for the fact that it implied he had done something wrong. Even if it had been, the fallen Cherub wasn't about to set about making apologies.

"Tonight?"

Suddenly, Sasuke found that he cared less if Neji made it into his bed that evening so long as he stepped over the threshold into his apartment. Into that private little corner of the world that he could call his own. Not of Satan's crafting or God's hands. A place where he had been free to create as he wanted, to fit him in every sense.

But if he asked Neji to claim a piece of that. . .

[silkcranes]

The feeling of Sasuke's lips against his skin was familiar now, though still slightly odd. Neji could hardly account for how stark the difference was between the night air and the heat that seemed to radiate from Sasuke's presence, or for how he had only just now realized how cold he was. That was all duly noted, of course, but most of all the lack of retribution that Neji had expected to come crashing from the sky at his agreement. Certainly that much was to be expected---after all, there could hardly be any reason behind that concession other than Neji's own selfish want.

What he wanted though, he wasn't sure. At least not in this instance. There were many things he wanted, of course (mere hints of things that he hadn't noticed wanting before, hadn't noticed he'd been lacking) and the feeling of that want was almost liberating yet at the same time, wholly caging. Neji had never realized just how much he lacked before.

Sasuke's question didn't surprise him---maybe the fact that he'd voiced it, but not the simple word. Neji had thought he would be smug enough at the simple victory to assume whatever else he wished, and the fact that it was not so partially ruined Neji's perception of him and tugged downward at the corners of his mouth. If he couldn't trust his own assessments, what could be trusted? He certainly couldn't speak for the demon, though Neji was fairly certain what scene he would meet upon returning. Yet with how reliable his intuition seemed to be recently, for all Neji knew, Sasuke wanted him to water his plants.

He highly doubted that, and the thought was almost funny.

Shifting against the tree to close the small amount of space between them so that the press of muscle could be felt beneath thin fabric (if only because Sasuke was the only source of heat and the spring nights were still cool), Neji let out a shallow breath. "I suppose." He said, wondering if he would regret it, yet failing to pinpoint exactly where that regret would fall.

[hotterthanhades]

Breath hitched in his throat as Neji pressed against him, and Sasuke could only surmise that it wasn't exactly want that made the angel do so. But any contact was good when initiated by Neji. It let him know that what he was no longer bothered the Metatron enough to enforced distance between them.

Again, Sasuke let loose a satisfied purr that rumbled deep in his chest. Was it inevitable to want an angel? After all, they were the opposites [or so the world waned to believe] of one another. Black against white, holy and unholy. Good and evil. If the laws of the world stated such a simple fact, then was this feeling Neji inspired in him unavoidable?

Something in him rebelled against that. No, he knew for a fact that not every angel that glided into his path stirred the same longing that Neji did. It went well beyond that [though he did have a rather nasty desire at times to show certain angels just how far from God they could fall if he wished it] though.

It was something a bit closer to old memories, things that were hardly dormant in his mind but perpetually overshadowed by his hate. Things he recalled clearly when memory asked. Of an almost friendship.

And now this. Sasuke easily slid before the other angel, pressing himself against fabric and skin as he pushed Neji up against the tree. A smirk edged out the smile that had previously called his lips home.

"If you're cold. . ." the fallen Cherub murmured against Neji's cheek, lips warm and inviting against skin.

[silkcranes]

The lamplight fell just so it caught the slightly red hue in Sasuke's normally dark eyes, reminding Neji slightly of another fallen angel he had faced under completely different circumstances. He had the time to draw in a breath before he felt the relief of the tree harsh against his back, warmth like a hearth but solid and engaging pressed close in familiarity. There was no room to incline his head away, but Neji did turn his face slightly, white eyes cast out across the water like there was some kind of savior there. But there wasn't.

"You had almost convinced me you were genuine." He whispered, eyes glazing over in the way that suggested he was seeing nothing. And indeed, it was very much a blank stare over Sasuke's shoulder, an attempt at pulling up walls he hadn't noticed were down until that point. And they came halfway up, shielding. There would be no stolen kisses on Sasuke's behalf, no gifts of the same on Neji's. Not while that barrier was up.

He wouldn't be idle, though, and the patch of skin on his cheek where Sasuke's lips currently rested was hot like fire and icy at the same time. Neji's fingers slipped between them, breaking the contact before his fingers moved to take hold of Sasuke's chin, a small amount of control when he turned his own head to look at the other. Neji had learned from previous experience, it seemed, and he knew all too well the things Sasuke took without asking.

"I thought you said it was because you miss me, Sasuke." It wasn't a real assessment, just a question without the lack of confidence. He raised a dark, elegant brow and waited, regaining some sense of self well enough to make sure whatever advantage Sasuke was going to take was going to be on his own terms. After all, he was a fool if he didn't know what he was getting into, and despite just how much knowledge he lacked, there was some experience there that wouldn't shy away and hide in the corner.

[hotterthanhades]

"I did," Sasuke returned evenly. His eyes held firm on Neji's, giving way to nothing in this. So close. He was so close to what he wanted from this, and he'd be damned [good thing he already was] if he'd let the opportunity slip right by.

That wasn't to say, however, that conviction lacked when it came to his words. There was no denying the truth of that statement when his gaze was held just so, and as if to prove his point, the fallen Cherub made a slight show of just what it was he could do [direct eye contact was always in his favor] by cutting off his own instincts to influence the thoughts in Neji's mind. Simply let his own drift against them before he them pulled back, stare as steady as ever but without the potency.

Though his head was held captive, there was nothing to stop the probings of his fingers. Sasuke slipped a hand beneath the flap of Neji's yukata, letting fingertips glance against skin, inspiring heat with every touch. As if to say so simply, I could give you more.

There was no denying that he wanted to. Wouldn't taken the angel as they stood if not for that irritating itch of good that quietly pleaded with him to wait. To let Neji have this as he wanted it.

After all, the best things came to those who waited. Sasuke couldn't help but think that the things he deemed best were not at all what God would have wanted for him. Even so, he wanted them, and badly at that.

[silkcranes]

Irritated that he had been so easily duped, if not by lips than by hands, Neji forced body and thoughts into submission, having realized that they were being tampered with. But the body was more difficult to control than the mind, and they were often not in alignment (another flaw to this creation, for had the lord made humanity perfect, each mechanism of the body would be subject to the mind) as could be sampled in those few short seconds when Neji's eyelids fluttered and his skin heated.

As if to show exactly how in control he was, Neji shifted his hand so it was no longer embracing Sasuke's chin, but cupping the side of his face, fingers half-buried in the dark strands of hair. He had gained a bit of insight during the interim, and if Sasuke really was going to insist on making things difficult for himself (and for you, a small voice in the back of his mind whispered) the punishment would be severe.

"Really." Neji said, knowing full well what Sasuke's eyes said and exactly what he would have liked to believe. "Because it seems like this might be what you were missing." Whether or not he was provoking Sasuke to show him something other than lust was hardly a distinct notion in Neji's mind, especially with how his fingers were softly smoothing against Sasuke's hair, the proximity between them closer than it had been when Sasuke had pressed him into the tree.

But there was no responding twinge of pain in his head for the action. And there was no triumphant trumpet of horns in the distance either to prove that he was doing good. If there was one thing that Neji had learned while being here, though, it was that some actions didn't have to be defined with either trait. From a crowd of humans, he could hardly see in the perspective of black and white anymore.

Maybe he wasn't responsible for it. After all, didn't humans use the excuse the Devil made me do it all the time? But no one was making him do anything (and that was the puzzling part) and still he was lingering by the tree when he could quite easily push away or disappear, just as he always did.

[hotterthanhades]

"Oh?" Sasuke tilted his head to the side, a smirk lingering about the edges of his lips. Missing? Had he been missing something other than that glittering halo and wings of white?

The answer was obvious, but he quickly shoved it back into the darkness of his mind. No need for Neji to know just what was and was not missing from his life at this moment. Instead, Sasuke leaned into the caress before pressing himself against Neji all the more, fingers slightly possessive as they staked a claim on milky skin.

"Perhaps," he mused quietly. For only Neji to hear before lips sought lips in a kiss that was uncharacteristically gentle. Only, however, because he was not yet finished with speaking [because he was hardly patient enough to deny himself the chance to taste what should have been forbidden]. "I've never asked someone to my place before, Neji."

Not like this. It was all implied in the way his gaze flicked up to catch the angel's as he deepened the kiss, words useless at this point. And it was truth. Never before had he sought out anyone, and it was only rarely that he even bothered to bring someone back to his own bed [decades at this point as he thought it over].

Fingers took to learning now. Slipped around to press into muscle, to skim along spine. And he almost found it funny to delight in the taking in of such details.

[silkcranes]

This was not turning out entirely as he had expected.

Realizing that he had been caught once more---and once again having a very limited out, Neji froze on the edge of what was gray and what was slowly turning into black. Because there really was no denying that any lack of effort on his part to dispel Sasuke's advances would hardly be angelic at this point. And there was also the oddly occuring fact that any more time spent under this brand of attention would cause Neji's own actions to become ill-advised (because despite the fact that his one hand, hardly stationary on Sasuke's face was all but innocent, the other stationed at his side was feeling a certain need for some kind of action).

Sasuke's words were registered outside the kiss, and that was what Neji focused on, despite his own lips being engaged once again without permission or care for approval. Despite the strange flutter in his chest he wanted to respond with some statement of disbelief or perhaps a cool sentence of nonchalance (both of which were actually trapped behind his lips) but found himself hardly in the position when Sasuke took it upon himself to observe bits of Neji that (though he hadn't specifically thought on it) Neji was rather sure he'd deemed private.

Lips that had been a bit too interested in Sasuke's task somehow managed to slip away just a fraction.

"That's enough." He said, his voice sounding hardly condemning but rather adament of the fact. He slipped along the tree in an attempt to disentangle himself from Sasuke's grasp, but found the action rather difficult with how he was pinned and the way the bark of the tree had rather caught hold of his yukata.

"You know I'll disappear." Neji said a moment later, as if it were some warning or incentive for Sasuke to heed his previous order.