tampered | Log; Ongoing

Log; Ongoing

When; Dec. 19th
Rating; PG-13ish (may change)
Characters; Tayuya {

so_very_greedy}
Summary; Tayuya ends up staying at the temple to recover fully from her wounds rather than return to the Sound apartment in such a state.
Log;

Tayuya had collapsed onto the nearest soft surface when Cobray had led her to Greed's room. Drifting in between the conscious and unconscious, she had only been able to listen to every few words when the man had asked her where she wanted to go after the healing she'd undergone. The Sound apartment, she supposed that was 'home', but the last place she had wanted to be then. Orochimaru-sama didn't need to see her after she'd been in such a state, chest ripped open by an explosion, burned, battered, and exhausted. With Cobray? Fuck no. Sure, he'd healed her, but that didn't mean she trusted him and his 'good intentions'. After all, Kabuto had been healing her for years and she still didn't feel comfortable around him, even with things in their present situation. And the third option had been with Greed, by far the better of them all. She trusted him enough to know, at least, that she'd wake up alive... or rather, as alive as she could ever be, the next morning.

The Sound ninja wasn't sure what was rousing her, after sleeping soundly for so long. She hardly ever did that, but she was sure the exhaustive period following the curse seal use had something to do with that. With her old one she could shake the need to rest for days if she needed to, but this new one, so much more powerful, sent her straight into an utter exhaustion soon after release. She tried to open her eyes, one hand feeling her chest. Whole. Intact. Good.

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Greed has been rather surprised to see Tayuya in his bed. It wasn't until after he had thrown his pants across the room that he noticed she wasn't there for what he thought. She seemed pretty bedraggled, as a matter of fact. He refastened his clothes and approached her.

"Psst. Tayuya. Tayuya? TAYUYA! Oi, wake up."

He sat on the bed with his legs over the side, turning to put a hand on her forehead.

"You gonna' be alright? What are ya' doin' here?"

Her hand slowly moved from examining to make sure there was no hole in her chest to trying to figure out what was rousing her. Normally she'd be up in an instant, it wasn't smart for ninjas to be deep sleepers, but the curse seal was still trying to keep a hold on her. Her hand found his leg, patting a few times until she could understand what was being said.

"... Greed?" She finally murmured, voice cracking, parched.

He reached up to her pillow and lifted it, propping two more underneath to elevate her head. He searched next to the side of the bed and opened a small mini-fridge he had plugged in there. After pushing through bottles of cuervo and wine coolers, he finally grabbed a small bottle of flavored seltzer water.

"Yo. I got my hopes up when I saw you in the bed," he joked, putting the opened bottle to her lips, "You okay?"

She blinked, trying to clear blurry eyes. One hand moved to the still faintly pulsing seal on her neck, rubbing as if to discourage it.

Managing a faint chuckle, she took the bottle slowly, taking a shaky drink to clear her throat.

"If I was waiting here for you I'd be wearing something nicer, promise." She referred to the simple robe Cobray had lent her, though it was preferable to her burned and hardly decent anymore uniform.

"... I... think I'm okay." Tayuya managed to sit up, one hand holding the water and the other patting herself down. She was healed. Looking down, she heaved a sigh. She'd wondered if that tattoo would come back.

He slid closer to her and put a hand on her back, rubbinng it gently.

"Can I get you anything? Amenities are pretty damned good, for a temple. And people wonder where all the money they give to their religion goes, heh!"

"So what exactly occurred? I heard there was a big fight."

She allowed the contact, though she normally wouldn't. It was welcome, actually, what with all the contact she'd encountered recently bringing bruises and wounds.

"I'm okay. And... Yeah. Some shit went down." Tayuya paused to take another drink of water.

"That stupid ass Yondaime asked me to go help him against the Akatsuki. ... Which is why I'm here, not... with Orochimaru-sama."

"Ah, those guys. I've been hearin' some talk about them. Bits and pieces. Plus I did fight Deidara once. Strange guy. He had TONGUES in his fucking hands!"

He laid across the bed, perpendicular to her. His eyes drifted idly to the ceiling as he folded his hands behind his head.

"Want help? I wouldn't mind a nice rumble with somebody tough."

"Fucker fights dirty." Tayuya snarled, grip tightening on the water bottle. "All I wanted to do was fight the goddamn sharkman, not get my damn chest blown off." Just to reassure herself again, she patted down her collarbone.

"..." That was a really tempting offer. She'd been getting a lot of tempting offers lately.

"Somethin' wrong? I just wanna' help you."

He threw his legs back over his head and rolled himself into an upright position on the other side of the bed. He scooted around behind her, placing hands on her shoulders.

"Wanna' massage? It'll cure what ails ya'!"

"... You just want what happened last time you gave me a massage." She muttered under her breath, but she moved her hair to the side and out of the way, rolling back her shoulders and revealing the still pulsing seal on the nape of her neck.

"As for problems... you could say that." She tried not to tense up speaking about it. "... Cobray offered to let me work under him. The goddamn Hokage wants to 'redeem me', for me to help him, and I did, and I'm keeping secrets from my master. Yeah. Problems."

His knuckles cracked loudly as he adjusted his hands.

"That kinda' does suck. If you ever need to get away from all that, you can always hide out here whenever ya' need. I'll took good care of you."

He worked his hands over her shoulders, moving carefully around the seal. It certainly looked different this time. Was it...moving?

"Anything you like to eat? We've got quite the kitchen."

He gradually worked his way down to her shoulder blades.

"In a minute." She grit out, moving her shoulders against his hands. The seal looked the same as it always had, a simple geometric pattern, but if one stared too long it would start to shift, changing depth.

"... I don't know what to do." She finally sighed, drawing her knees up. "... What's going to happen to me when Orochimaru-sama gets out?"

He kneaded a few muscles in her lower back, then placed his arms around her, easily encircling her. He planted a light kiss on the seal and held her.

"Ya' just gotta' cross that bridge when you come to it. But he ain't gonna' do anything stupid around me. I think he knows better."

It was times like now that reminded Tayuya how small she was compared to Greed, but... she didn't mind too much, she guessed.

"... I don't think he'll hurt me yet. But..." Damn, she hated not being about to say what she was trying to say properly. "... I've always served him. And now... all these goddamn nice people..." She shifted uneasily, uncomfortable because she didn't know how she felt.

He laid his chin on her shoulder and turned slightly to face her. Tayuya? Unsure? Impossible!

"I keep tryin' to tell ya'. Life ain't all about killin' and dyin'. Wouldn't be worth it, if it was. Not everybody is out to get you, Tayuya. And not every world is as harsh as yours."

His hands went to hers, curling around them.

"... Well, maybe not everybody." Tayuya conceded, curling in slightly more on herself. "But a hell of a lot of powerful people. Akatsuki wants me dead, now." She rested her own chin on her knees, face tilted to face the man. "And Konoha does. Every one of their ninjas has orders to kill me. And the other countries, too. Without Orochimaru-sama... a powerful master... I'm dead. Again." Her voice was growing quieter and quieter. Tayuya was a proud woman, and admitting that she lacked anything, especially power, was the most difficult thing one could ask her to do.

"And I'll be stuck here."

Greed leaned back slowly, stroking her hair and trying to make her more relaxed. He had to have something to say that could make her feel better.

"Well, for one thing, people CAN come back from death. I've seen it. You CAN be restored to a pre-death state. There's always that to look forward to. I'm still workin' on finding a way that won't require a huge sacrifice."

"For another, the Konoha may be annoying and a bit too idealistic, but they're nice guys. They aren't going to attack you without provocation, for the most part. You could actually mend the bridge with them, provided that you show that you don't feel up to killing them all."

"Akatsuki...are dangerous assholes, but I don't see any of them who can beat me. They're still human, and unless they know alchemy they can't stop me with any finality."

The sound ninja tried not to let a petulant expression take over her face. She felt like she was being babied. She swatted his hand away, but it didn't have much force, or emotion, behind the refusal.

"... They'll never accept me, because I'll never let it go." She was referring to Shikamaru, and her hatred of him for playing a role in her death. "I don't want to kill all of them, just a select few."

"..." She hated relying for anything on anyone. But she'd been forced to rely on so many people in this City. "And all these kids like me." She added as an afterthought. "And call me fucking 'Miss Tayuya'." It really did bother her that she hadn't cussed those kids out yet... and didn't want to.

"You've gotta' understand. That's their friend. It's like how I would take it personally if one of my friends is attacked. That's what most people do. They look out for their own."

He looked up at nothing in particular for a moment, then finally continued.

"Why is it bad that people like you?"

"..." She looked at him funny. Why? Well...

"Ah... because... they fucking aren't supposed to. I'm scary!" She was quite unaware of how stupid this was sounding, gesturing wildly. "Horns sprout out of my head and my eyes change color and I can make people go insane!" She twisted around on the bed to face him, a still confused look on her face.

"People are supposed to run screaming or something!!"

Greed stared at her quizzically, cocking an eyebrow.

"Eh? I don't. Hell, I find your other form very exotic. Sexy, even! Besides, you aren't like that all the time. See this?" he switched forms quickly, "THIS is what makes people scream. At least you still look very human."

He changed back in an instant and put his arms around her sides.

"Just cuz' you were raised by a monster, that doesn't mean ya' are one."

Her face didn't show any signs of change at Greed's transformation, so used to the unsual changes people were capable of.

"... You haven't seen my new one." She protested. She had to admit that while she loved the power that went with the upgrade, she didn't like the new form.

"So show me. Show me this new form of yours."

Greed had a lot in his long existence. He doubted she could shock him.

She hestitated for a moment. Not only because the form was unappealing to her, but also because she didn't know if she'd be able to do it so soon. But there was... no harm in trying, she supposed. Scooting back a bit she closed her eyes to draw on the seal.

The take over was much more rapid. Her skin darkened and hair lengthened, horns larger and sharper than before bursting out not only from her skull but from her shoulders and spine as well. Her nails lengthened into caricatures of talons and her face was twisting into a feral expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but ended up snarling instead, the seal pulsing wildly. It was taking over more than she'd meant to draw on. With a hint of fear she realized it had been risky to do it again so soon, but... with the old one it had...

She began to twitch sporadically, talons clicking together as she grit her teeth, trying to wrestle the curse seal back for control.

Greed is nothing, if not tenacious. He continues to hold onto her and pulls her more tightly against him.

"It's fine, Tayuya. You don't have to worry. You're safe here, ya' know? And quite frankly, I still find it kinda' sexy. Force it back down again so ya' don't burn yourself out."

He sat up and rocked her gently, but with a firm grip to keep her from thrashing too much.

She struggled, talons trying to dig into his skin, seal pulsing and irises dilating as she tried to force the seal back down, return it to submission under her mind. She was trying not to, but the seal was a feral power, one that only whispered harshly in her mind. Kill. Maim. Hurt. Pain. With a muffled growl she bit into his shoulder, slowly managing to begin forcing it back, the horns growing smaller and the darkness on her skin beginning to recede.

It took her several minutes, but she finally released her... bite, eyes lidded.

"... Sorry." She finally spoke.

Greed seemed dazed, then suddenly focused back on her. Quite contrary to what she thought, her thrashing and attacking him had a different effect. Greed's cheeks were flush, and he was grinning in an odd way.

"That was...pretty intense," he chuckled, "God, I love it when they get feisty like that!"

He darted forward and kissed her on the lips.

"See? You weren't ugly at all."

"Well..." She allowed the kiss, wiping a bead of sweat from the back of her neck. Tayuya looked at his face, one eyebrow raising before her gaze went lower.

"Greed!" She slapped her forehead with one palm, in half-disbelief and half-amusement.

"I...I can't help it!" he said in mock-outrage, covering his crotch, "It's a natural reaction!"

He rotated his arm, popping it back in the socket after her movements dislocated it. He leaned in a bit closer, pressing his forehead against hers.

"It's not like I can resist a fine figure of femininity like you."

She started to laugh, but grew quiet at the soft contact.

"Greed..." She mumbled, hands fiddling, twisting in the sheets, suddenly quite aware of where exactly she was. Was that a blush. No. No it most certainly was not.

"Hm?"

He picked up her hands in his and gently kissed the tops of them.

"Somethin' still on your mind?"

"You." It came out all a blurt, sentences coming out faster than she could stop them.

"I hate it when you have sex with other people, but I don't hate you, and I don't mind when I'm with you even though I should, and you say nice things to me that no one else says and you don't think I'm just a tool to be used and you can be so stupid sometimes but it doesn't fucking matter and..." She finally managed to stop, a frown on her face.

"... Nnn."

"Hm...Well, I'm not very perceptive, and I do like sex. That's part of who I just am, babe. Would it be better if I didn't talk about it in front of you?"

He moved closer to her, pressing his lips firmly against hers and drawing back slightly.

"Besides, if you give me the chance, I could show you something very...pleasant."

"Not a damn word." Tayuya breathed before tipping her head up into the kiss, hands moving from the sheets to his legs, nails digging in through his pants.

"... And maybe just this once." She punctuated that statement by letting her nails brush a bit too close for most men's comfort. She smirked. Exercise might just do her good.

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Log; Ongoing

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