ic contact

[acknowledges]

Taco Salad is not happy to help you. Taco Salad hungers for justice, and for a bite of whatever you're eating.

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[acknowledges]

[He laughs. It's a watery, happy sound that moves through him and bubbles to the surface. Naruto's never been one to mope, and it's rare for him to allow the depth of his feelings to be seen by others, especially when they're like his. It isn't that he doesn't trust people, or that he's ashamed of the way he feels- but instead that Naruto's will- his abject refusal to settle is what's kept him going for so long that he can't allow himself to stall. There had never been someone behind him back home. There hadn't been parents to tell him they were proud of him, or siblings to tell him that things would be alright. As a child his peers were encouraged to ignore or avoid him- because of what he was, because of what that monster had done to the village.

Naruto has always been picking himself back up. He doesn't resent it because it's all he's known, because the alternative had been laying down to die, or to accept that he should be overlooked. I'm not a nuisance and I'm not some kind of germ! he'd shouted once. I'll become Hokage so that everyone will be forced to acknowledge me!

It's always been about impossible dreams. About sharing those impossible dreams with others.

People aren't that different, he thinks. Maybe the little things are, their individual histories and the things they care about, but they always care about something. No one wants to be alone. No one wants to be hurt.

A person is able to become truly strong when they wish to protect someone they cherish.

Back in his own body he's aware of Bolin's chin on the crown of his head, of his face pressed into his neck. Of the way their arms lock. It occurs to him that he's never been hugged like this before, and then somehow... somehow he's not sure that a hug is the right word for it. And then he realizes, this is what it looks like when someone cares about your feelings. This is Bolin, who came here because he was sad, being kind to him because they're friends. It isn't really one person taking care of the other- but he's not sure when he's felt this before- the opportunity for him to be sad with someone else. To sit with those feelings and not have an answer for them, but not to drown in them either. Naruto's shoulders relax, hands sliding to rest on Bolin's biceps and just lingering there, holding on.]

Hime-chan said she's gonna help me make a big garden.

You should help us too. We'll need lots of hands. She's never really grown plants before, and even though I have, I've never done something that big.

[sediments]

[ It is an unusual type of embrace. Bolin has never been afraid of contact, especially once he understands someone to be his friend. It's an expression of closeness; an admission of emotion without words. He's never held Korra, Asami, or - he can't even imagine this - Mako while lying in bed. Though if he'd ever needed him to, he would. It's unusual and different, but it's not weird or unnatural. If this is how his friendship with Naruto is going to be, then that's all there is to it.

Bolin's existence itself might not be outside the norm, but he doesn't bother restricting himself or analyze his actions by some standard of "normal". (Doesn't bother to think or reflect at all, really.) He cherishes relationships for what they are, the closer the better.

He likes feeling close to someone. ]

A big garden? Where are you going to do that? [ His tone is light as his contentment wavers, remembering strongly the garden that Adrasteius had been so intent on—remembers napping in that garden sometimes after training.

He picks back up, excited at the prospect of something that would make Sakura and Naruto happy. ]

I'll help. Are you getting a house after all?

[acknowledges]

[There are little lines in his face now, from the creases of the sheets pressed into his skin and the strange fold they're making- tucked into one another. It doesn't occur to Naruto, in this moment, that this is the kind of embrace he'd been wanting for years- this full bodied awareness of another person. The sense of safety, of being understood, of not being for anything. All his life he's been trying to grow- to outgrow the boy he'd been, to outgrow his shortcomings and the things he couldn't do or understand. He's always been trying to be more. More for the village and for his team and for Sakura-chan and for Sasuke and for his sensei and for his mentor and for everyone but himself.

It won't occur to him that this purely selfish moment had been something special until long after its over. Maybe until he's climbing in bed for the night and smells Bolin's shampoo on the pillow.

He pulls back slow, because he thinks abstractly, that he's supposed to.]

I don't really know that part yet, and I still don't think I'm gonna get a house. But I think it'll be fun to work on something like that. When I was younger I always thought it'd be kinda nice to garden with somebody else.