二十九; 「accidental voice post」

[saucey]

[The feed clicks on again and one can immediately hear the sounds of rustling fabric. There's occasional mumbling from Sakura and Neji, but otherwise there's nothing of importance.

That is, when Sasuke himself starts to stir, mumbling quietly to himself. After a couple of minutes his breathing starts to labor, his mumbling growing loud enough for his PCD to pick it up.]

Blood...everywhere... Stop it, uncle... nii-san...

Don't want...to see it...

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[saucey]

Ah...

[He nods, just listening. Taking it all in. Absently, he starts to pet Mouko, and she purrs in contentment.]

That... must've been nice.

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[al_truism]

It was.

[Al rubs behind Shadow's ears, making him purr loud enough to vibrate.]

Hah... Shadow's made a few friends in his time, too. He gets up to all sorts of shenanigans with Cador, Lelouch and Suzaku's yodare cat. We're... pretty sure Cador is male, too, so... we haven't had a lot of luck figuring that one out. They leave each other presents sometimes so if you find a thrown up sock and half a mouse on the doorstep, it's probably from Cador to Shadow.

[Al takes a moment to poke at Shadow's paws, and the cat gets bored with the game and begins to groom himself instead, still purring.]

Pumpkin, that's the other cat... she came along at Christmas. She was my and Sasuke's present to Itachi.

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[saucey]

[Sasuke glances back at Al at the last bit.]

What...was my relationship with him? With Itachi...

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[al_truism]

[Al's eyes half-close.]

When he first came, it was like what you have with him now. Threats. Violence. ... all of it.

... but the closer I got to Itachi and the more I came to know him, and the more I came to know, the more I encouraged him to tell your older self the - ... well, to make up.

There was no Madara, no Akatsuki. No one dangerous from your world... nothing to worry about.

Itachi... made up his mind after Sasuke told him what he'd been through from ages thirteen to sixteen. The training he'd undergone to kill him. And what had... been done to him.

He told Sasuke what they needed to, and... some things he didn't know.

... it wasn't like when you were children, but... you know how Ed and I act around each other, right?

[A fleeting smile.]

It was... like that. You were... really close. You even shared a room.

[In fact they also slept in the same bed so Sasuke could help keep Itachi warm, but that might be too much to digest.]

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[saucey]

[Sasuke lays back on the pillow, half-burying his face into the fluffy cotton, mumbling.]

...Must've been nice for him.

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[al_truism]

[Al rolls over, disturbing not one but both cats to lay an arm over Sasuke and tug him into a soft hug.]

You'd want that?

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[saucey]

[Sasuke clenches his teeth as he buries his face into the pillow. That alone should be answer enough for Al. But he can't. He can't have what they had back, not after what happened.

Not after what Itachi did to him. His lying. His betrayal.]