| [Dec. 18th, 2013|11:29 pm] |
Genma snorted. “Really? I can’t wait to see them.”
“Wasn't that why you invited me to lunch?” Ryouma asked, as wide-eyed and innocent as a pre-schooler. “I was gonna show off how good I am at chopsticks…”
“And then we take tea and wagashi and sit under the cherry blossoms and compose haiku? I don’t know,” Genma said. He spread his arms wide and kicked one leg forward, modeling an invisible kimono. “I don’t think I’m really dressed for manners. Maybe we should just go for tempura instead.”
“No tempura,” Ryouma said. “You promised meat.”
The turned a corner, and there was the building lobby. Genma spun around to face Ryouma, hands lifted in the Tiger seal. “Kai.”
Ryouma blinked at him.
“Huh, still Tousaki. For a minute there, I thought you might be Ueno using a genjutsu on me,” Genma said, straight-faced.
“Wait.” Ryouma’s expression fell straight past innocent and into comically betrayed. “All those times you've been shoving rat bars and juice boxes at me, it's just 'cause you thought I was Ueno?”
“It was the insistence on meat that made me think of our resident bottomless pit,” Genma said. He held the door for Ryouma, and shivered as the chilly breeze hit his face. “Also, I’ve been bringing electrolyte complement rehydration packs to workouts, but if you want me to get some Captain Seaweed Apple-Dapple Juice Boxes for you, I can look into requisitioning some. Shall we go back to the QM?” He leaned against the open door and gave Ryouma a smile.
Ryouma gave him a side-eye as he slipped past. “Rescued me once, an' now you're throwing me back to the wolves?”
The problem with all this verbal sparring, as lighthearted as it might be, was it meant Ryouma was still working to test the edges of Genma’s authority. Time to cut it short, and maybe establish something a little more solid for common ground.
“That’s not how ANBU operates. And not how I operate.” Genma tipped his head up to meet Ryouma’s gaze. “No soldier left behind.” He let his eyes stray to Ryouma’s scarred wrist for a moment, then reached up and tapped his hidden tattoo. “We’re brothers now.” |
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