Log; Completed

[violentflutist.livejournal.com]

When; Monday, October 23rd, evening
Rating; PG for language
Characters; Tayuya {violentflutist} & Watanuki {first_of_april}
Summary; Tayuya hires Watanuki to clean all the blood out of her carpets after her and Sakon fought with Leaf.
Log;

Watanuki stood outside of the door to apartment five building four, debating whether or not this was a good idea. According to Tayuya, they had met before, when he was here last time, and had even spent some time in each other’s company. And he did need the money before he was paid for his other services. He needed to eat, after all.

Hesitantly he raised a hand and knocked on the door, hoping that no one would answer.

Tayuya gave a half-hearted groan, waiting for someone to answer the damn door. Sakon and Ukon were in their room, just as bad off as she was. Kimimaro should be home, but she supposed his self-righteous ass wouldn't deign answer the door for her. She gave it about a minute, waiting. With a sigh, she slowly eased herself up off of her spot on the floor, glad that she hadn't reopened any of the wounds since they'd clotted the second time. She took her time, taking it slow to get to the door, careful not to spill anymore of her blood on the living room carpet. Orochimaru-sama would be mad enough at her when he got back, if he got back, and she didn't need to add any more grievances to her long list. Unlocking the five bolts on the door, she opened it slowly, leaning against the doorframe for support. "Watanuki." She said in a way of greeting, frowning.

Watanuki didn't know what to say, Tayuya looked terrible. He sort of stood there, mouth hanging open in shock, before his senses came back to him. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" The words came out of his mouth before he remembered that he wasn't going to ask any questions.

"Oh, this." Tayuya's frown deepened, looking down at herself. She was covered in kunai cuts, courtesy of Konoha, only a few of which were too dangerous in the manner of dying, though they did bleed profusely. The front of her uniform had turned the rather rusty shade of dried blood, but she was more pissed off about the bruises, small little dots of them all over her body where her chakra points had been screwed with by that damnable Hyuuga. Oooh, but she shouldn't have slipped up like that... Shaking her head, she looked back up. "Got in a fight." She answered, opening the door wider to admit her cleaning-boy.

Watanuki couldn't help but stare at Tayuya as he stepped past her into the apartment, and then he was staring at the apartment. That is what she meant then... he wasn't sure how well he was going to be able to get out so much blood, but he would try. He set his cleaning supplies down on the floor, eyes fixed to the lovely red stains as he addressed Tayuya. "How long has it set?"

"Uh..." Tayuya shut the door behind him, slowly, because the bruises ached, bolting back the five locks. "Fuck..." She tried to remember exactly when she'd stumbled in last night. "About..." She glanced up at the clock on the wall. Funny... it was still dark. But, no matter. "Ten hours?" She turned, leaning her back against the door. "That a problem?"

Watanuki glanced at the injured woman, and back away again, not wanting to look at all the damage that had been inflicted to her. He had been in worse condition a few times, only Yuuko, and heavy prices saving his life, but that didn't mean he liked it. "Kind of, it will make it really hard to get out if it's dried... but it looks fairly wet still, so I should be able to handle it." Too bad this wasn't the strangest conversation he had ever had.

"Alright, as long as it's gone before Orochimaru-sama gets back." Tayuya was tempted to return to her room and collapse on the bed, but she supposed if she just watched him follow the blood trail she'd get there eventually, but at the same time, she knew better to leave the young man alone. If Kimimaro came home he'd probably kill him without asking questions. That'd be a shame. She wasn't good at cleaning, and everyone expected her to be able to, she didn't know if it came with being female or what, but it happened. Sighing, she headed into the open kitchen, turning on the hot water. "How do you get that shit out, anyway?"

"I'll get it out as quickly as I can." Watanuki assured, hearing something in Tayuya's voice that said it was kind of important that he did. He reached into the basket of stuff he had brought with him and pulled out his apron and handkerchief, putting them without paying much attention to the actions, he was so used to them. "Getting blood out is never easy, but it's best when it's wet, and I'll need cold water." He had a small pale with him to put the water in, and some carpet cleaner he was going to mix straight into it since spraying it on the stains would take far too long.

"Oh." Tayuya looked over at the sink, she'd taken her eyes off it to watch Watanuki. Eyeing the steam rising from the basin she pulled a wash basin from beneath the counter, filling it. "This is for me." She stated, just so the man wouldn't think he stupid when he said cold water. Once she finished filling the small tub she turned off the hot water, waited a moment, and then switched on the cold, plopping down in a chair, steadily hauling the steaming basin towards her. "Forgive me if I don't fill it for you." She said, with a hint of sarcasm.

Watanuki held his hands in front of him in a half defensive gesture, putting the best smile he could muster on his face in this sort of situation. "It's alright, I can handle it." He walked over to the sink and filled his small pale just over half way before he shut off the tap. Carrying it back to the stained area, he mixed in the cleaner, and pulled out a scrub brush with thick coarse bristles. This was going to be a lot of work. At least, he hoped, he would be paid a decent amount for his services.

"Thought so, you’re domestic and shit, like Kabuto." Tayuya muttered that last part bitterly. Shrugging, she slowly managed to pull the outer fabric of her Sound uniform off, wincing slightly as the fabric leaving her skin opened up some of the cuts again. Dressed now in just her black bodysuit, she got a closer look at the wounds. That one on her right hip was a tad nasty. She'd need to go to Kabuto after this. With a curse she shoved the cloth into the hot water, slowly beginning to scrub. "How much you charge?" She asked, watching him

Watanuki paused for a second, thinking the question over. "Wouldn't the money system from our worlds be different?" He would have to leave it up to Tayuya to name a fair price. "This will be a good bit of work, but nothing extravagant. So... I'll let you decide?" He didn't really know if this bleeding woman could be trusted, but she scared him, so he wasn't going to argue.

"... Well, damn." Tayuya rolled her eyes. She'd forgotten about that. More muffled cursing as she rubbed hard on the fabric of her uniform, rubbing out the dried blood, and not doing too well. "The fucking stores around here take all sorts of money, so I forgot there were world differences." She offered as an excuse. "You want to barter or something? Or I think one of the stores could exchange me some of what you want. What's your money called?"

"Yen... but I don't know if that means anything, since a lot of us seem to speak the same way." He wasn't sure if they were all Japanese or not, some people seemed American to him, but they all understood each other well enough. "I guess we could compare money and see if it's the same, and if it is, we can work something fair out from there." He scrubbed at the blood stain, it coming out easily enough, but quickly turning his once clear water a very vibrant shade of red.

"Fine by me." She quickly gave up on the uniform, instead leaning carefully over to her left and snatching an already blood-stained rag off the table, dipping it into the red water and turning instead to getting the blood off her skin. She frowned, biting her bottom lip from making any pained noises. That would be just pathetic. Glancing over, she raised one eyebrow skeptically. "You whore yourself out for cleaning in your world, to? Cause your damn good at that."

"I AM NOT WHORING MY SELF OUT, THANK YOU!" He yelled, waving his arms around as he did so, but he went back to working as soon as he realized he was dealing with a homicidal potentially dangerous woman. "I work for a living, and I've lived alone since I was little." He replied more calmly as he set back to work, getting up to fetch more water. "I've done all the cooking and cleaning since I was a kid."

"..." The only sound after his little outburst was Tayuya's muffled laughter. Muffled, because it hurt to laugh. Trying to compose herself, she turned back to daubing at her wounds with the soaked rag, feigning disinterest. But she couldn't for long. "... Parents?" She asked, attempting to still sound as if she didn't give a fuck. But this City was getting to her, making her soft. Damn, but it was annoying.

Watanuki focused more on his resumed scrubbing of the carpet, considering for a few moments acting as if he hadn't heard anything, but decided against it. "Dead, in an accident. It was a long time ago, I don't really remember it all that well."

"Go figure." Tayuya replied, rinsing the rag as best she could in the bloody basin before returning to daub again at a different spot, since she sure as hell wasn't going to get up and refill the damned thing. "Remember them at all? Anything?"

Watanuki nodded, barely. "My dad is the one who taught me how to cook. When I say I don't remember much, I mean about the accident. I was told that since I was so little that my mind just blocked it out." He had a good chunk of the stain taken care of already, which was surprising, but he had a lot to go either way. He decided to venture a question of his own. "What about you?"

"..." Tayuya's gaze drifted to the ceiling. She didn't usually like to talk about that. "I remember a little." She paused, unsure of if she wanted to continue. But not speaking about it made her weak looking, if it seemed she could be hurt by such little things such as parents. "My father was a drunk or some shit, I mostly just remember he drank a hell of a lot." She didn't like alcohol. "Mom... don't remember her as much. But it doesn't matter." She threw the rag back into the basin with a splash, slowly standing. She'd have to refill the damn thing. It took her a moment to lift, muscles protesting, but she managed to poor the dirty water down the dink, fishing out her bloodied uniform and rag before the clogged the drain. "After dear old dad decided to sell me to a brothel I ran away, lived in the streets. Before Orochimaru-sama found me, that is."

"Oh." Watanuki was, once again, at a loss for words. It seemed that there were rough lives lived in all the different worlds, one of the things that connected them. Then again, Yuuko had told him that people he knew in his world existed in others, and even if they were different, they shared the same souls. So if the worlds had that much in common, why not other things? "And, what about this Orochimaru, what's he like?" He hoped things had improved for the woman, though not likely by the looks of her right now.

"He's my master." That pretty much summed it up. She cursed a few more times, filling up the basin again before returning to her seat, glad the water was now hotter and cleaner, relishing the feel of the small bit of pain that accompanied the cleaning of the wounds. "He's the strongest there is, anywhere." She stopped talking to clean the blood out of her hair, looking crosswise out her eyes in vain, trying to look at her own hair so close up. "Sure not the nicest guy there is..." That was an understatement. "But he's practically my father, I've been with him since I was eight, and he took care of us. Raised us, taught us to fight, how to survive and serve him."

"Sounds tough." Watanuki replied, knowing it was a vast understatement, but getting the feeling that Tayuya wasn't the kind of person who particularly liked pity. So he left things at that, concentrating on what he had been asked to do. It was a nice change of pace, not being forced to do manual labor, but having a choice in the matter.

"... No." She answered, though it took her awhile. She didn't need his pity, and he looked like someone who gave that particular emotion out in droves to every sob story he came across. And the last thing she wanted was to seem like some foppish girl with a sad and emotional past she was willing to drop at some man's feet. "Almost done?"

"Yeah, about." Watanuki said, grimacing at the blood colored water again. One more refill and he should finish up. Maybe it was the carpet, or something about the City, but it was all coming out.

"Good." Tayuya breathed a sigh of relief. Orochimaru-sama did not need to see that carpet. Finishing with her own job, she dropped the rag back into the basin and shakily stood, tottering over to her bedroom to retrieve her money while he finished up.

Watanuki finished his work in overall silence as Tayuya disappeared from the room, only grumbling at the stain once or twice under his breath. Soon, however, the carpet was free of blood, and he took himself and the supplies to the sink to rinse off before packing up. He glanced down at his apron, wincing, it would need a good scrubbing of its own.

"Here." Tayuya began tossing small bags of money out of the door, too annoyed and tired to take more than one trip. And he sure as hell wasn't coming in her room. She'd just throw out the sheets and buy new ones instead of washing them or something. She threw out seven bags of varying weights, all of different currencies. She'd stolen quite a bit on a curse day in which no one could bother her, and they were all from different worlds, it seemed. "Pick any which damn one."

Watanuki, with a lot of awkwardness, managed to catch the bags. Giving a confused look he pulled one open and glanced at the contents. "Oh, okay..." He looked through all of them before he found money he recognized. "This one will do." He crossed the room and handed the other bags back to the injured woman, not wanting to throw anything at her; besides, he had terrible aim. Before he handed the last bag back, he pulled out a few pieces of the paper money. "This is all I need."

Tayuya chucked the money back into her room, taking the last bag back with a bit of an odd look. But hey, if he only wanted that much... Shrugging she took slow steps towards the door, cursing the entire way. Slowly, she unlocked it, opening it for him to leave. What should she say? Thanks? Surely not. Taking a moment, she finally said. "I might hire you again, you do a good job with that shit."

"Sounds good." He smiled at her awkwardly, taking his stuff, and retreating back into the hallway. "Thanks. I guess I'll see you later." He considered what to say for a moment before continuing. "Uh, if it's not too much trouble, I can bring you dinner. I've gotten used to cooking for at least two recently, and I don't want the food to go to waste." He tried to put it so it wouldn't look like he was feeling sorry for her, even if he was. She seemed nice enough, and was technically helping him out.

"..." She bit her lip, thinking. Her gaze moved quickly between glare and indifference, trying to figure out if that was pity. But... nnn... he was a good cook. "... only if I come pick it up. You can't come here unless I supervise you, your ass might get hurt." She stepped out the door as well, locking it behind her.

"Okay, that works." Watanuki wanted to ask if that was really a good idea with the condition she was in, but decided against it. "What would you like to eat then; I'll stop and pick up some groceries."

"I get to pick?" Her interest was piqued. She actually put some thought into that. "... Sukiyaki."

"Good choice." One thing he knew how to make, guess for once he was lucky, because that was a dish served in his own world as well. "Then let's go."