ＭＡＲＴＹＲ

“  i don’t want you here.  just go.  ” 

“  you ‘didn’t mean to hurt me?’  yeah you did.  like it or not,  i know exactly who you are.  ” 

“  why won’t you even look at me?  ”

“  i’m not angry at you.  i’m angry with myself for trusting you.  ”

“  i wish you’d stop trying to destroy yourself in some misguided effort to feel worthy.  ”

“  i know it’s not fair to say this,  but i don’t have anything without you.  if i don’t have you i have nothing.  ”

“  you can’t love me.  not the way i need to be loved.  ”

“  i’m broken.  and i don’t need anyone to try to feed me white lies about it.  something inside me is broken and it isn’t just going to be put back like it was.  ” 

“  sometimes being broken isn’t about trying to put things back together like they were before.  it’s about picking up what pieces are left and building something new.  ”

“  okay,  so you’re a monster.  so am i.  lets be monsters together.  ” 

“  because of what they/you did i’m damaged.  ”  

“  what the hell is wrong with you?  ”

“  what the hell is wrong with me?  ”

“  i can’t fix you.  you can’t expect me to know how to fix you.  ” 

“  yeah,  i’ll be here.  i’ll be here when you’re ready to stop running.  ”

“  my world is just falling apart.  it’s like everything is just crumbling around me.  i don’t know what to do.  i just want it to stop ”  

“  you’re the only thing that makes sense right now.  everything else is just—  the world is so loud.  and the only time it feels quiet is when you’re here.  ”

“  i don’t know how to talk about shit okay?  it’s too hard.  but i do care.  i need you to trust me that i care.  ”

 “  stop punishing yourself.  you wanna make up for what you’ve done?  get off your ass and do something about it.  ”

“  whatever it is you think was going on between us,  you’re wrong.  ”

“  it didn’t mean anything to me.  ” 

“  you should move on.  i did.  ”  

“  i feel like i’m one bad day away from becoming everything i’ve fought against.  ” 

“  stop pushing me away.  i’m not going anywhere,  asshole.  and as soon as you get that through that thick skull of yours,  the better.  ”  

“  i don’t need you in my life.  i don’t want you in it.  ”  

“  i can’t trust myself.  if i let myself get comfortable enough,  when i try to be happy,  people get hurt.  ”  

“  people like me don’t get to have peace.  ”  

“  i’m not the person you want.  i know you think i am.  but it won’t take long for you to realize this is a mistake.  ”  

“  you want the truth?  the truth is when i love people it burns inside me like a poison.  it infects every part of me until it feels like they’re in my goddamn soul…and then i fuck it up.  and it’ll destroy us both.  ”  

“  i’ll always choose you.  that’s the worst part of it all.  i’d choose you over and over, even though i know you wouldn’t do the same.  ”  

“  you never had to be perfect.  you just had to stay.  ”

“  will you please just stay for once.  just.  don’t walk away.  ” 

“  if i loved you less,  i might be able to talk about it more.  ”   

“  just tell me something real.  tell me something i can remember no matter what happens to us.  ”

“  when you look at me,  i feel seen.  i feel like you see past everything i’ve always surrounded myself with to try and protect my heart.  no one has ever looked that deeply at me.  ”  

“  how can you uncover so much about someone,  make them let their guard down and lay themselves bare to you.  and then just throw it all away?  ”

“  if you walk out that door don’t bother coming back.  ”

“  why are you so afraid of trusting this—  trusting us.  what’s making you hold back?  ”

“  will you still be here?  will you stay even after you’ve seen all the ugly parts of my heart.  ”  

“  i don’t care how willing you are to die for me.  i want you to fucking live with me.  live for us.  ” 

HURT/COMFORT

[ DISCOVER ] for one muse to find the other crying alone. 

[ COMPANY ] for one muse to sit with the other so they don’t have to be alone while they’re upset. 

[ EMBRACE ] for one muse to suddenly hug the other one for their own comfort. 

[ OFFER ] for one muse to suddenly hug the other one to comfort them.

[ SETTLE ] for one muse to comfort the other and end up cuddling. 

[ SHOULDER ] for one muse to rest their head on the other’s shoulder while they comfort them. 

[ CARRY ]  for one muse to find the other injured and carry them to safety.

[ SECURE ] for one muse to carry the other to bed after they fell asleep. 

[ STRUGGLE ]  for one muse to resist being hugged but then break down and crumble against the other. 

[ CLEAR ] for one muse to wipe the other’s tears. 

[ BREAKDOWN ] for one muse to ask the other if they’re okay prompting them to finally stop bottling things up. 

[ BRUSH ] for one muse to run their fingers through the other’s hair while they open up or cry. 

[ NURSE ] for one muse to tend to the other while they’re recovering from injuries. 

[ TRUST ] for a scenario where sender’s muse is the only one receivers muse will let close. 

[ COAX ] for scenario where receiver’s muse knows they’re the only one sender’s muse will let close. 

[ CALM ] for one muse to subdue the other during an outburst. 

[ CLARITY ] for one muse to help ground the other back in the present  (i.e. after nightmare, breakdown, battle etc)

Though irritation is evident in her tone and expression, he can't help the tinge of amusement at the lack of general malice to it — at least compared to the usual glares that she reserved for him. Right now she almost looked like she was pouting.

❝ Bowls? They're strays. Not my pets. ❞

And yet as they walked along, the way several were eager to run up and rub against his legs, including the cat in his arm purring away, may have indicated that Sasuke wasn't as aloof towards them as he was letting on. Perhaps they weren't pets, but he was tender with them and showed them a patience that was a jarring contrast to the cruelty he has shown the world — including the prudent clan leader that had, in fact, tagged along on this little cat feeding detour.

Finding a suitable open garden, Sasuke sets the cat down and turns to Hinata.

❝ ... sometimes I do leave bowls out. ❞ He finally admits. ❝ Just to leave about when I am away. But when they are pushy like they are now, it's fine to just toss them what they're begging for. Less heads competing for one spot. ❞

He props a hand on his hip and looks over the many eyes watching her expectantly. Many were not so shy with her, despite her being a new face within this area of the village. It could have been that they understood humans could be food providers — but it could also have been her gentle nature that made them feel more at ease.

The quiet felt so sudden. Not a single bird call, or a gust of wind – even the blood that stirred from the height of adrenaline had dulled to pulses that didn't even reach Sasuke's ears. It was like the universe granted the two a moment of peace.

Naruto wheezed gently beneath him, his face – much like his own – hardly recognizable, all swollen and bruised. And yet a certain steadiness endured in his eyes as they watched the sky bleed and bruise, the sun disappearing over a lofty horizon. This kind of setting, it was perfect for lazy lounging, maybe even a nap. Just so long as Naruto kept those eyes heavenward. Because anything lower, and he'd see the last bridge that connected the two.

That's where the illusion ends. Sasuke's dirty arm stretched beneath him, and the speckles of blood at the hinge of his elbow. No graceful transition comes next, just blunt splatters of blood that covered his forearm and stained the flesh. Lower than that, the absolute rest of him, settled straight through a quaking chest; completely lost in Naruto's heart.

For all the ferocity that lead to this moment, Sasuke was surprisingly patient for the other. Unmoving as he watched Naruto's equally stalled body, struggle to hold on. The outside of him, anyway… because the warmth that embraced his fingers… it convulsed every moment or so. Each throb weaker than the last. He doesn't want to know this feeling. But he cannot bring himself to pull away. Cannot bring himself to look away.

To look away is to have no conviction of his actions.

When the last traces of sunlight finally went away, it no longer held Naruto's interest. They met gazes again, and for some reason that idiot smiled at Sasuke. The kind of smile that could convert even the harshest cynic to a believer in a better tomorrow. That was Naruto's strength. But it wasn't Sasuke's. Sasuke who could see the blood covering that toothy grin. The way more of it gushed freely from the corners of that curled mouth, dribbling down to the space where jaw met ear, and eventually to join the pool that was growing beneath him. The fire in those eyes burned, too bright for this waning body to keep up. It was clear that Naruto ardently believed he could keep going, but Sasuke knew that would no longer be enough.

"H…Hey." The silence is disrupted by sick gargling, and a broken voice. It nearly made Sasuke flinch, how pathetic it sounded. "You called… you called me… your one and only friend. Didn't you?" ❝ . . . ❞ "That doesn't change. J...erk." Sasuke swallowed. He felt something in Naruto twitched against his wet fingers for the very last time. Something that certainly also twitched within himself. ❝ … Yeah. ❞ "Heh. Not for me… either." Sasuke grit his teeth like he'd been stricken. Because it sounded like the words of someone who believed he would still be here tomorrow to confirm it.

❝ I know. ❞

With one deliberate and swift thrust, his fingers forced their way even deeper, until his knuckles crashed against the other side. No more convulsing. No more wheezing. No more twitching. Nothing. It was done. Naruto was done.

Sasuke was finally all alone.

The steadiness at which he pulls his arm out is a farce. The moment the cool of night strikes the wetness covering his flesh, a violent shake rides through him. Enough that he has to grasp his wrist to steady it. The sight of his arm covered in the sickening essence of his best friend, only to blur when he focuses on said friend's dull and lifeless eyes, reignites the pounding of a heart that was once calmed.

He can't look away. He said he wouldn't. But the longer he stares, the less air there is to satisfy his lungs. Each heave more painful than the last, contending with a rioting heart. He didn't appreciate the silence while he had it before, and now all he can hear is violent pounding in his ears. Threatening to split his skull. But when he instinctually reaches for his ears, his stomach stirs at the sensation of one of his wet palms touching his face. There was absolutely no reason for him to react this way.

Because I beat him. He's the loser. I won.

So why… why does Sasuke feel like he's the one with a raw and bloody hole in his chest?

At last he wills himself away from the sight of his best friend's corpse, to wrench his eyes shut and contend with tears stinging his eyes. He doubles over the still warm body, arms winding around his heaving and shaking body, the blood caking his bruised cheeks sporting clear streaks where tears unceremoniously spill their way down. He is ashamed of himself to cave so suddenly to this pain, but not enough to stop himself.

What's one moment of vulnerability, in the first step into the shadows – his revolution? This burden was his, after all, so he would have to bear it. But before he completely receded into the darkness like he promised to, he has to cry. And cry and cry and cry. Because this is all that will ever be left of his human heart, before its cast away like he did his best friend.

By the time he'd finally calmed down, it had stretched well past midnight. Somewhere along the way, his injuries caught up with him, forcing him to crash alongside the corpse. Laying shoulder to shoulder now, mirroring their deathly stillness, were it not for the occasional swell of his chest for slow breath. He doesn't know how he held onto lucidity for this long, with a body as ravaged as this. But sleep would not claim him, almost like a punishment to endure the pain and immortalize his actions.

The female’s orgasm rips through her body, and she shudders, the pleasure too overwhelming as her fingers stopped her hips rolled upward once more to ride out the hit just as it was hitting. The woman was unaware as the door was slammed open; her cheeks were heated and flustered. Vivi's body was trembling as her fluids squirted, coating her thighs along with the sheets of her bedding a couple of inches away, as her belly felt hot. Lying her head onto the cold wooden floor of the bedroom felt cool and comfortable against her burning hot skin and ragged breathing coming from the woman’s heaving chest.

However, she glanced up as she heard something snapping towards the door. Frowning when she looked at Sasuke standing in the doorway, Vivi turned red and whined with a mixture of embarrassment and rage. Pulling out her wet fingers, she quickly covered herself with the oversized shirt before grabbing the pillow to chuck at the man. Gritting her teeth, the woman panted, trying to catch her breath as she was coming down from her climax, as tears were forming in her eyes from embarrassment of being caught.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Have you never heard of knocking!" After she had thrown the pillow at him, she quickly stood up, scrambling up from where she had just been lying down, fully exposed. The woman choked back a scream of frustration before she turned to head towards the bathroom to quickly get away from the male and take a shower to clean herself off. She was covered in sweat and her own fluids, which she did not want to be seen in this condition, as the shirt was barely covering anything.

❝ The door was ope— ❞

Before he could finish that statement he was met with a face full of pillow. Irate, he claws at the offending item, jerking it down towards his side, as he watched her attempt to regain some semblance of pride by leaving the scene. But Sasuke, with his widened eye of bright red, had other ideas.

With a pillow now tossed to the floor, his feet thud against the floorboards as he stalks her down. Her arm, the same one that was being used to pleasure herself, is clutched between his fingers. Though without the intention to harm her, the firmness of which they closed around her skin foretold of an unwillingness to let her go.

It is unfortunate that the moment he finally had her in his grasp he was at a loss for what to do next. Even as he jerks her to force the two of them to meet eyes — although he is somewhat expecting retaliation — there are no words to leave Sasuke for this forced proximity. Does he mean to accuse her of something? Call attention to the use of his name? Mock her for it??? What purpose would any of that serve, having already humiliated her by showing himself?

In the end there was really only one question that was running through Sasuke's mind the most, and as their heat exchanged through the touch of her skin it was steadily dominating the mind: What do I want to do with you?

His brows pulled taught and his mouth twisted in newfound frustration. He is the first to break eye-contact, but he still doesn't release her. Instead letting his body answer for him ; by yanking on her arm until she crashed against his chest, held flush against his body.