[closed log]

[sandsworn]

Characters: Lee, Gaara, and Lain
Location: Death City Heights
Rating: PG-13
Time: December 4, afternoon-ish
Description:  Lain is spending  the night with Lee and Gaara.

Comments

[verdant_lotus]

Lee flushed, halfway through the living room, and cast a longing look at the bathroom door.

Gaara's possessiveness and overprotectiveness were things that they were working on. That Lee would train his hardest and spar were givens, but it usually went better when Lee could clean up afterwards before his partner saw the blood. It also kept Lee from being bullied into going to the clinic for minor scrapes.

"Nothing is broken?" Lee tried hopefully.

[sandsworn]

"From the looks of you, I'm surprised you didn't break anything." Gaara crossed his arms over his chest, staring levelly at his partner. "You need to be more careful in the future." In the past, Gaara might have ordered him to stop sparring with Neji entirely, but by now he knew Lee well enough to know that wouldn't work. Lee refused to let himself be wrapped in cotton, but he'd promised not to risk his safety unnecessarily...and while Gaara didn't exactly trust his partner's judgment or common sense, he trusted Lee to hold to that promise.

[verdant_lotus]

"We were careful. And I am fine," Lee reassured him.

It helped that he knew that worry was at the core of Gaara's irritability over his condition.

He started stripping the bandages off of his hands, unwinding them with the casual deftness that came from years of practice. Hopefully with most of the blood and dirt out of the way, Gaara would start to look slightly less murderous.

"There was something I wanted to ask you about," he said once he'd gotten the second bandage off.

[sandsworn]

Gaara watched Lee peeling the bandages off. His hands were battered, the knuckles reddened, but the linen strips had protected them from the worst of the damage. Still, the sight of dried blood smeared against white cloth made his chest tighten. He didn't like seeing Lee hurt. By now, he knew Neji well enough to trust that he wouldn't hurt Lee seriously, but still...

At Lee's words, he looked up. "What is it?"

[wiredgod]

There are only two thuds against the door to announce Bold's arrival before she shoulders the door open and drops her overnight back in the entrance-way.

"We're here!" She nudges the door closed with her foot, pulling her shoes off to be polite, before dragging herself further in.

"Today sucks and I hate everything. So what's up?"

[verdant_lotus]

There'd been time enough between their conversation and Lain's arrival for Lee to finish cleaning up and change from the spar, though his dark hair was still damp and starting to spike at the edges. He smiled at Bold's entrance and put communicator (still new, and strange to use) down on the table. "I was looking at the missions," he replied. "We should be able to find something."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

[sandsworn]

Gaara looked up at the heavy thuds on the door. He'd been in the kitchen, assembling the ingredients for vegetable curry, thinking Lain might want dinner when she arrived. Now, he entered the living room and inclined his head toward Bold in greeting. "Did something happen?"

[wiredgod]

Bold frowned, rolling her shoulders in a shrug. Hands on her hips, her pose is deliberately one to reflect indifference. But the look she gave Gaara is exasperated.

"What didn't happen today?" She grumbled, kicking lightly at her bag, not quite feeling like picking it up. Her gaze went to Lee then, frowning. "There's nothing to talk about. I don't know what you're thinking."

She tossed the signature side ponytail out of her face and looks curiously towards the kitchen, wanting to change the subject. "What's cookin'?"

then lain and neji have a talk.

[wiredgod]

She throws her stuff on the bed, making sure the door is closed before taking a seat next to said bag.

Bold doesn't open the communicator right away, spending a couple extra minutes to calm herself down before she begins the text. She writes fast, before she can stop herself or think it through more.

At Lee and Gaara's. Was talking to Lee and he told me a thing or two. I don't have a crush on you, don't get stupid ideas like that. I just like teasing you and making you uncomfortable, and that's not stopping any time soon. So don't freak out. You don't have to text me or anything.

Stop being mad at me?

She hit send and flopped back against the bed, waiting.

[heavenly_earth]

Neji looks at the text on his communicator, etched into the glass surface, and damns Lee for his inability to keep his mouth shut. But at the same time, the assertion that Bold doesn't have a crush on him is endlessly relieving. His impressions of her actions around him weren't wrong; she just enjoyed tormenting him to various degrees. It made him feel better at least, and the day's tension faded as his fingers hovered over the virtual keys.

I'm not angry. It was just something I wasn't sure how to address if it was true- particularly with Normal and her situation with Naruto running parallel to it.

And he still isn't sure how to help her.

At any rate, I apologize for my quick temper this afternoon; it's been a very tiring day.

I'll come by for you in the morning.

[wiredgod]

She picks the communicator to eagerly read the message. She's not entirely sure what she was looking for--this reply doesn't surprise her, but maybe she'd been hoping...

Eyelashes flutter as Bold desperately tries to keep herself from crying and alerting Lee and Gaara. It doesn't quite work out, and she has to bury her face in her pillow to keep from making any noise. After couple minutes she texts back.

Yeah, I know. It'd just make things difficult. One body and all.

Why don't you just talk to Naruto yourself? He's dumber than a box of rocks sometimes.

She pauses to wipe at her eyes, then continues. Eh, whatever. Maybe it's just that time of the month for you. :)

Don't come too early I wanna sleep in. Or I might drag Gaara shopping with me or something. I'll text you.

[heavenly_earth]

Yes, I can't even begin to imagine how something like that would work.

I've considered talking to Naruto about the issue since Lain will just avoid that situation, however I'd rather not run the risk of making it worse. Naruto also has no tact, so if I told him to talk to her...

I'll figure something out.

For now just get some rest, and I'll see you tomorrow.

[sandsworn]

Later, after dinner, Gaara retreated into his bedroom along with Lee. He changed into a t-shirt and boxers. Typically, he went to bed naked, but he had a vague sense that he should wear something, since they had a guest. Maybe Lee's modesty was finally rubbing off on him.

Gaara sat on the edge of the bed. He kept thinking about Bold, about Neji. Something twisted and ached inside his chest, and his fingers tightened on the sheets.

It made him think about how things had been for him before he met Lee. Even after he became the Kazekage, there had still been an emptiness deep inside, a constant numb ache of missing something he couldn't even name, wanting something he believed he could never have.

Slowly, Gaara looked up and met Lee's gaze. His expression was raw and open, pale green eyes wide. "I need you," he whispered, his voice deep and rough.

[verdant_lotus]

Lee paused at the door, his hand on the light-switch.

He'd known that Gaara had been shaken off-balance, but they'd both been so focused on Bold that it'd stayed a dull hum in the back of his mind.

He should've expected this, he thought. Gaara's innate instability, the kinship he felt with the Lains...

He flicked the light off and padded across the cool wooden floor, then sunk to his knees in front of Gaara. Lee looked up at him through the darkness, eyes slowly adjusting enough to the light coming in through the curtains so that he could see his face. "You have me," he said quietly.

[sandsworn]

Gaara looked down into Lee's face, into those warm, earnest dark eyes. Concerned eyes. Trusted eyes.

Pale, thin fingers twined into Lee's glossy black hair, and Gaara bowed his head until his forehead was resting against Lee's. He closed his eyes and focused on the contact, the warmth, on the simple knowledge that Lee was there. He tried to shut everything else out, but he felt as if something deep inside him had been shaken loose and suddenly nothing was steady and secure.

His fingers tightened on Lee's hair. Anxieties which had been forgotten in a corner of his mind were growing, taking up space--the idea that he might lose Lee, that Lee might be killed in battle, that one of them might be sent home at any moment, that Gaara might be left alone here...perhaps not alone, not anymore, since he now had friends in this world, but still...

If he lost Lee, he would lose his fragile grip on sanity. He knew that with a frightening certainty.

His chest tightened, and his breathing quickened. He buried his face against Lee's neck.

[verdant_lotus]

Lee's eyes closed, and he bowed his head.

The bite of Gaara's fingers in his hair was too tight, but Lee knew that he'd never ask him to loosen it or let go. Instead, he simply held him closer. "You have me," he repeated.