#fragrantfall

this pain is nothing.

here deidara was now though ,   in a similar  SLOUCH.   though against a centuries old tree instead of the rock outcroppings of his own homeland. 

blood seeps through his pant leg ,   coloring his fingers red as he attempts to slow it.   lashes flutter closed as he focuses on breathing through it.

iwa and konoha ,   WORKING  TOGETHER.   it would have ,   at one time ,   seemed impossible.   now they’re  ALLIES.   he shouldn’t have gone ahead so hastily ,   though   ( this he can admit ).   the only upside was that he and the sound ninja’s scout had fallen for each other’s traps.   except he wasn’t even sure if the other was  dead  or  incapacitated  as he was.   his had been a  MASTERPIECE ,   of course.   his superflat centipede had  DETONATED  hidden at their feet among the abundant underbrush.

BROKEN  RIBS.   shrapnel from their tag being set off as he had landed on a branch to check on his own sprung trap.   a particularly large chunk of said branch had  FOUND  HOME  through his left leg.   that of which deidara knows better than to remove himself.

how much longer before the others catch up ?   there’s a medic in the  MISMATCH  team.   he remembers the attitude and pink hair ,   just not her name.

&starters.

            — it’s a little past 4 am, and they’re a sweaty tangle in his too-small dorm room bed. sakura’s head is pillowed on his shoulder, her pink hair a vibrant streak against his skin & his pillowcase. he looks down at her, sees where her roots are coming in dark. he kisses them. 

           “why shouldn’t they?” 

        he’s been off on mission after mission, lately; this morning is the first in a long time that he’s woken up in his own bed, in his own home, sakura softly sleeping next to him. 

          he blinks at the ceiling for a few moments. he’s aware of the november chill in the room, but it’s warm under the covers, & when he reaches out, sakura’s skin is warm, too. he curls around her -- every time he thinks he’s used to it, that he’s settled into life as a husband & a father, it’s small moments like these that remind him of its preciousness. 

&mun.☀ ━ how long have you been roleplaying? how did you get into it?

          oh, NOSTALGIA------no one had ever warned him how "she” could cause physical pain.

          and it’s not as though he stands here, clutching his chest over some impending heart attack---rather, the dull ache behind the thickness of his skin is enough to have injured eyes narrow, temporarily wishing to run back several yesterdays. 

          the children run as far as carefree legs could take them, some falling into the arms of their parents and others racing their comrades to whatever destination they see fit to serve as the finish line. and erwin watches, remembering such a simpler time, and remembering how quickly it was gone. not only by the simple pain of growing older, but by the bloody losses that had him age far faster than is natural for any child. he hardly ever was a child. 

          but sometimes, when he sees these young, warm-blooded children, unworried for the doom that adulthood will snatch them up and throw them into, he feels as though he is one of them again, just for a moment, before the weights of reality drag him back down to the paved grounds of the real world. 

          he can dream, too.

          ❛  if your younger self could see you now,  ❜  he murmurs, breath loose in his throat as he doesn’t take his eyes away from the children, not until the latter clause of his wonder,  ❛  what do you suppose they’d think of you?  ❜a man with no social awkwardness about him, it’s not uncommon for him to voice such innocent thoughts to someone he’s never met before.

— ; sai laughs, softly, & kisses her again, nudging her nose with his. “it is what they say,” he admits readily, & sighs, letting himself  finally  slump  into  her  embrace, letting himself finally be home. 

— ; he’s barely opened the door before he’s got an armful of wife – & sai catches her  easily,  wrapping his arms around her waist & smiling into her kiss. he pulls back after a moment, brushing her hair  out  of her face, tucking it back behind her ear. 

&mulan.

— ; “not at all,” he says, proudly, & he presses a kiss to the side of her head. “you’ve got a  terrifying  battle cry. hajime & itsuki will certainly know the proper way to scream at bugs, now.”