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The ceiling is the first thing swimming back into view, the blissful haze slowly wearing off. Hidan is coming back to himself bit by bit, with every passing second a little more. And he‘s aware of every single second too, the old clock on the night stand somehow irritatingly loud. Even the rain outside pattering against the window is noisy, noisier than before. It‘s a disgusting day, so he‘s all the happier being here, being warm, his body aching pleasantly in all the right places.
Kakuzu appears in his field of vision and his thumb comes up to stroke Hidan‘s cheek just underneath his eye. It‘s rough, every nook of Kakuzu‘s body having been hardened by work, and he had never really learnt how to be gentle with his actions. But it doesn‘t mean that he couldn‘t try.
Hidan groans.
"How are you feeling?" It comes out as Kakuzu‘s usual low rumble but somehow still softer, barely loud enough over the pattering of rain.
"I‘m…" Hidan‘s mouth and lips are dry. His shoulders and wrists feel sore, not to mention his hips. When he tries to reach up and hold Kakuzu‘s hand his arms don‘t obey him and keep lying at his sides. "I‘m fuckin‘ great," he drawls eventually and means it. The state he is in – when he is still halfway lost in a haze of pleasure and pain, hovering in the middle of these two perfect worlds – is one that only Kakuzu can put him in.
Kakuzu withdraws his hand but soon after comes back to slightly lift Hidan‘s head and put the rim of a glass to his lips. "Drink up."
The water feels freezing and the first sips hurt in his throat, make him aware of all the marks blooming on his skin now, but Hidan does as he is told. A more sentient part of him remembers that Kakuzu likes it when he‘s compliant for once and decides to indulge him. Once he obediently emptied the glass more control has returned to his body and he scoots up a little to lean back against the pillows.
"Don‘t fall asleep yet," Kakuzu says.
Just to spite him Hidan closes his eyes and puts on the most self-satisfied smirk he can manage. He hears Kakuzu sigh. Usually even the slightest comment would make either of them ready to throw hands with the other but especially Kakuzu becomes incredibly tolerant of Hidan‘s antics during their shared afterglow. So he says nothing and just wordlessly takes Hidan‘s arm and pulls him into a sitting position. For a short second Hidan struggles to stay balanced and in the next cold lotion hits his wrists. In contrast to Kakuzu his skin always looks snow-white, almost sickly so, and it makes the angry red marks around his wrists stand out even more.
"Bossy," he tells him with what is left of his sleepy smirk.
"Shut up."
"Not what you wanted just a few minutes ago."
"Do you want to get in trouble?"
"Do you?" Hidan leans forward enough so that he can rest his head against Kakuzu‘s shoulder while the other moves on to his other wrist. His warm hands and the cold lotion make for some nice contrast. It‘s soothing. "My trouble is your trouble."
Kakuzu clicks his tongue. "You‘re trouble."
Love you too, Hidan doesn‘t say. It is some unsaid agreement between the two of them. To just let it be and exist but not acknowledge it. If he were to say it Kakuzu would push him away and he doesn‘t want that. He wants him close, warm and solid by his side, holding his wrists and massaging them firmly to get blood circulating again. It‘s almost a better feeling than when he just pins him down to have his way with him.
He‘s alright with it. They both are. It‘s comfortable existing together.
"Are you hungry?"
It pulls Hidan from his thoughts. He shakes his head and then presses his face back into Kakuzu‘s arm. He likes the firmness of the muscles. Kakuzu is built like a rock and even harder to break, stoic by default and that makes the warm feeling pooling deep in Hidan‘s guts dwell up even more when he thinks about how gentle he can try to be. As much as he loves the manhandling, being treated with such care means that Hidan has broken through a steel wall of all the barriers Kakuzu usually has up.
He‘s not allowed to stay like that for long. Kakuzu carefully pushes him off, picking up a small box of ointment and planting it in Hidan‘s hand. "Get to work," he says dryly and turns his back to him.
"Damn." Hidan lets out a quiet whistle. Kakuzu‘s back is broad, well-sculptured and every muscle defined. The mess of scars does nothing to diminish the impressive view. If he weren‘t so out of it yet that he could barely move, Hidan‘s mouth would have watered from just the sight of it. But most delicious were the stark red marks of finger nails running down Kakuzu‘s shoulder blades with small trickles of blood having dried underneath them. "I did quite a number on you, hm?"
"I will-" Kakuzu hisses when Hidan slathers ointment on the first few cuts. "-end you."
"You say that all the fucking time and I‘m still here." The balm quickly warms up between his fingers and Kakuzu‘s skin. "Makes me wonder, you know. Maybe you don‘t really want to get rid of me."
Kakuzu swats at his knee. Hidan chuckles and moves on to the other cuts. They wouldn‘t heal as quickly as the marks that Kakuzu left on him. The rest of his haze is gone now and he feels every bruise on his body, every bite mark on his neck and chest. The ache is dull and pleasant by now.
When he is done, he puts the ointment back on the nightstand and wipes his hands on some paper towels before wrapping himself around Kakuzu‘s back again and hooking his chin over his shoulder.
"I‘ll take it you don‘t want to get rid of me then."
Kakuzu huffs. "I should have shut you up better."
Hidan grins and presses a kiss to his shoulder. "Maybe next time you‘ll succeed." Together they sink back into the pillows and tangle their legs together. The things that are unspoken stay unspoken. Hidan doesn‘t say that he likes holding Kakuzu and Kakuzu doesn‘t admit that he likes being held at times like this when he was the one previously breaking Hidan apart and putting him back together.
It‘s good that way. Why shatter it with words?