Yes, this is ridiculously short. But the scene has been in my head since chapter 364, and in between writing the AU Deidara-as-librarian fic I'm working on, I had to jot this down. Because...evil Tobi is fun. 8D (In case you're curious, the title of the fic is named after the Norse Trickster, yes.) Hope everyone enjoys.
Loki
They sleep in the same room, in the same bed now and then (neither takes well to separation, though one is less likely to admit it than the other), and yet there is so much Deidara doesn't understand. There is so much hidden beneath that mask, even when it's off.
Especially when it's off.
Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he stares down at a young, boyish face marred by a single scar that begins at the left temple and ends at the bottom of the chin. Tobi's never told him how he acquired it, but then again, Deidara hasn't asked.
Nor has he questioned the slight flicker of red he notices on occasion, behind the wide, innocent eyes, even the discolored eye that Tobi assures him is blind.
"Completely useless," he says, nodding gravely. "Why else would I need a mask like mine, senpai?"
Yes, why. Why, why, why.
Why red.
His thoughts turn inexplicably toward a clan, a clan whose bloodline produces red eyes, a clan responsible for rearing the cause of Deidara's animosity, his tireless pursuit of artistic perfection.
Uchiha.
"What are you?" he murmurs, his fingers lightly smoothing Tobi's bangs across his forehead. This is one of those nights Tobi fell asleep in Deidara's bed, one of those nights Deidara would usually shove him over to make room for himself, despite the fact that they'd wake up tangled together in the morning anyway, like knots or snarls.
Everybody has secrets. Deidara isn't naïve enough to think otherwise. He has plenty of his own.
But it's a bit different when your face is the secret.
The secret concealing many other, buried, secrets.
A face too boyish, too young, too exquisitely scarred.
Secrets within secrets.
Gently, silently, Deidara removes his hand from Tobi's hair, presses his lips to the center of the now-unobstructed forehead. The tips of their noses touching, Deidara takes a moment to savor their closeness before he leaves, to watch Tobi's eyelashes flutter, to listen to him breathe. From here, he can lower his head just a little more, kiss Tobi's mouth…
And now he's standing, padding softly to the door where he pauses and says, over his shoulder, "Sometimes I feel like I don't know you at all."
When he's gone, Tobi opens his eyes.
Everybody has secrets, but Deidara's secrets aren't secret to him. They've never been. It's not fair, of course. It's not right. Not equal.
Yet he won't do anything to change that. He likes things the way they are. He likes his secrets, and Deidara's, the way they are.
And that's where they'll stay.
Turning on his side, Tobi buries his face in Deidara's pillow.
"You don't," he whispers.