Log; Complete

[oro-chama.livejournal.com]

When; Thursday, August 31, in the afternoon.
Rating; G
Characters; Orochimaru (oro_chama) and Kimimaro (ossuarybouquet
Summary; Orochimaru and Kimimaro talk about the City (and we even avoided smut, go us!)
Log;

Orochimaru had little trouble finding the building he had been directed to. It was odd, being called to the apartment of someone who was reported dead nearly three years ago. In fact, Kimimaro and Tayuya both were supposed to be dead, yet he had spoken to both of them. It was one of the things Kimimaro was sure to explain to him during this visit.

Suspecting that the door would be locked, standard ninja paranoia, he knocked.

The knock startled Kimimaro from his light doze at the kitchen table, where he'd slipped off in the midst of a cup of tea and reviewing the piecemeal map of the city he'd managed to concoct a little while back. Ignoring the dull ache in his chest, grown chronic since the snowstorm, he got to his feet and headed for the door, dumping the cold tea and placing the cup and saucer in the kitchen sink along the way. Perhaps Tayuya would actually do the dishes, once she got back from her sudden and inexplicable quest for womanhood.

He clicked the door ajar and, upon seeing Orochimaru, opened it guardedly--he had made no enemies in this world as of yet, but the city was unpredictable, especially of late. "Welcome."

“Kimimaro.” Orochimaru could only grin as he saw the boy. Now that they were meeting in person, he could see this Kimimaro was younger, if only by a little, than the one he had sent to retrieve Sasuke. If it was really him, genjutsu or henge were always an option.

He stepped into the apartment, examining it. It wasn’t anything special, but he hadn’t expected much. He kept one eye on the white haired boy as he took a seat on the first available chair. “You said you had some information on this City, and something about the Deities?” He wouldn’t dismiss the information given to him, but he wasn’t going to believe it until he was sure this was who he claimed to be.

Quietly, cautiously, he quelled the feeling of warmth that rose in him at the sight of his lord and master--a feeling he'd been missing all his life, that he'd nearly forgotten in the tumult of the city's caprices and curses but which had made itself known to him for the first time when Orochimaru-sama had taken him in. Lately Kimimaro had been relaxing his guard, having sensed that cloistering himself was hardly the way to accomplish anything of note here. This did not mean, however, that he would commit wanton mistakes at a moment's notice.

He'd been about to offer tea in the way of respectful greeting, but refrained as he remembered, yes, that Orochimaru-sama preferred to get straight to business, pleasure later. He went to sit at the table. "The city is oriented in the shape of a circle," Kimimaro noted as his fingers swept across the paper. "Possibly meant to imitate the form of a clock. As well, the deities seem to enjoy foisting random curses on the inhabitants--there was a day on which everyone lost a specific article of clothing, snowstorms, infestations of penguins and snakes..."

“Snakes, penguins, lost clothing? This place seems amusing.” He smirked as he examined the rough map, memorizing the locations of everything marked there. “Is it possible to tell when one of these “curses” is coming?” If this was an imposter, they had Kimimaro’s mannerisms down exceptionally well. “Tell me about the deities as well.”

"One never knows what to expect," Kimimaro admitted, honestly. "The curses seem to strike at a whim, and there are no warning signs whatsoever. In the case of weather patterns, it is also unpredictable prior to manifestation." The dark-scaled snake which had barely left his side since the start of the snowstorm came gliding into the kitchen, forked tongue tasting the air--head raised, mouth wide in what he had come to recognize as a sign of hunger. He accepted its silken tread up his back and against his neck; it stared steadily at Orochimaru with unblinking eyes.

There was a small pause as Kimimaro folded up the map and put it away--he doubted Orochimaru-sama needed much more time with it, and he disliked to leave such delicate things out due to his roommate. "Kaen and Yoshito appear to be the main forces, and are polar opposites--Kaen has the more irritable personality. Beyond that, I have not yet found out enough to form a coherent picture of the other two."

Orochimaru stared at the snake, it stared back. He sat like that for a moment before returning his attention to who he was now certain was Kimimaro. “Interesting. These deities cause chaos on a regular basis, and with no warning or reason. I think I would like to meet them.” One of them could, more than likely, be responsible for his ending up in the City. “Is there anything else I need to know about this place?” So far it seemed the information was just basic; how things were run, who was in charge, the odd quirks of the place, nothing that wouldn’t be known to the general population.

Kimimaro did not miss the steady and unwavering look between snake master and snake--he took that to mean that, whether it was really Orochimaru-sama or no, this being sitting next to him had some special power in the same realm; and allowed himself to be reassured... if only for the moment. "I've not heard of any citizens who've met the deities in person--but if you continue to frequent these journal tools, you should come across them sooner or later." He lapsed into silence, sifting through what other knowledge he had of the city and realizing to his shame that he had... far too little to show for the extent of his time here, now.

"I've had Tayuya compile a fairly thorough report on the inhabitants of this particular building, if you should wish to see--they include an Akatsuki and Konoha. In addition, Uchiha Sasuke is in the city..." Unable to meet his lord's eyes, he instead slanted a glance at the snake--it had not shifted, like a veritable piece of jewelry. "I apologize that I have no more helpful information for you, Orochimaru-sama." He bowed his head.

“Konoha, Akatsuki, and Sound all in this building. How no one has killed someone else is impressive. I want to know who, and what apartments.” Valuable information, Orochimaru decided h would also need to find out where Sasuke was staying and anyone else from any of the ninja villages.

“That will do for now, but continue to gather information.” He could see the apprehension in Kimimaro’s eyes, just as he had suspected the boy, he was also suspect. Casually, he leaned forward resting his elbow on the table and his chin on his upturned hand, examining a spot on the wall off to the side. “You haven’t gotten sick have you?” Kimimaro was at just the age when he had first started to show signs of his fatal illness. So, if it had started manifesting, it would be relatively unkown.

"Most of them arrived fairly recently," Kimimaro offered, by way of explanation--hesitated, before elaborating, "There is an uneasy truce, as most of what is in contention in our world has no place here. However, I will abide by Orochimaru-sama's wishes." He was willing to break the uneasy detente, if need be; to kill whom he needed to kill, capture whomever he was required to capture. He had... a purpose again. "If you wish to peruse Tayuya's report, I will give it to you..."

Green eyes widened minutely at the sudden inquiry unto his health, he drew in a painful breath and felt that hated twisting in his chest. "I..." He closed his eyes; there was no use covering up the truth, no matter what time it was... He was still... "Orochimaru-sama," he finally managed, "have you a place to stay? Our apartment is large enough to be used as a base..."

Orochimaru turned a toothy grin to Kimimaro. “You may want to get Kabuto kun to look at that for you. As for a place to stay, no I have not yet acquired one, but I will require my own room.” He stood walking around the table to stand next to Kimimaro. Placing his fingertips on the underside of the boy’s chin, he tilted his head up so he could look into his face. He wore his traditional smirk. “After so many years, I think I missed your company. It would be a shame to loose you again, and to the same illness.”

"O-Of course." He wasn't sure which question he was answering anymore, more than a little flustered by suddenly being the focus of Orochimaru-sama's full attention--that was part of the power his lord held, and... Kimimaro didn't mind giving himself over to it. It made him feel... "I... Orochimaru-sama... Y-Yes." And even after so many years, whenever he was granted a touch it made his cheeks warm with a helpless happiness. Sometimes, he would wonder at what it meant; now, he simply relaxed into the unexpected contact, guard slipping and falling.

“Good.” Orochimaru enjoyed the familiar reaction. Kimimaro, for being a deadly shinobi, still had a very simple and childlike way of acting. Perhaps his coming here wasn’t all a bad thing, not with so many people important people to his plans right at his fingertips. In fact, this could work out to his favor in more ways than one.

He let his fingers linger for a moment longer before slowly pulling away. “About that report then.” He changed the subject back to the earlier one easily. “Though I’m not sure I trust anything put together by Tayuya san.”

Cheeks still a little flushed, Kimimaro cleared his throat and settled down to business, rising from the table to show the way into the next room. "I've verified the report personally, so you needn't have any reservations on that account. These two rooms are currently occupied by us, you may pick any other you like..." It was not the familiar lair that he had grown to call a home, but now, with Orochimaru-sama here at last... It felt more familiar already.