（ old wounds, badly healed — but the scar tissue holds as he leans against sasuke, pressing a kiss below his navel before turning his head to nuzzle in close, wrapping both arms around him. ）
Yeah.
（ it's muffled slightly, by water and by the press of his cheek. he doesn't pull away to continue, just raises his voice a little so he knows he'll be heard over the water. ）
It's — I don't mind talking about it with you. It's not an imposition, or a burden when you ask. But most of the bad shit that's happened to me was millennia ago, you know? I've dealt with the messy stuff, up here, （ one hand extricates itself from about sasuke's hips and reaches to touch his own temple, tapping there lightly in indication of what he means. ） and it's hard to tell you these things when the only outcome is making you hurt. I know you can take it, that's — it's not that.
（ another soft kiss, this time pressed against one of sasuke's many bruises gained during their scene. ）
I don't want to keep things from you. But I also don't want to pour only stories of suffering into you until it drowns everything else. I've lived good lives, Sasuke. I've met good people. More good than bad. I've loved in a thousand languages. I've watched civilizations grow up out of the mud. I've taught people the fundamental language of the universe. I've seen sunrises in the most beautiful places, wild and remote, where no one has ever walked before me and no one will walk for a million years after. I've charted constellations across velvet-black skies until it felt like no corner of the universe was beyond my reach. I've held babies at their first breath and their elderly hands at their last.
（ sasuke is scratching idly at his scalp, and he closes his eyes against errant suds from the shampoo. luxuriating in the touch. ）
The good stories are the ones I want to share with you, not the awful shit. But I'll still tell you, if you ask. And if I don't, or can't, I'll tell you why.
no subject
Yeah.
（ it's muffled slightly, by water and by the press of his cheek. he doesn't pull away to continue, just raises his voice a little so he knows he'll be heard over the water. ）
It's — I don't mind talking about it with you. It's not an imposition, or a burden when you ask. But most of the bad shit that's happened to me was millennia ago, you know? I've dealt with the messy stuff, up here, （ one hand extricates itself from about sasuke's hips and reaches to touch his own temple, tapping there lightly in indication of what he means. ） and it's hard to tell you these things when the only outcome is making you hurt. I know you can take it, that's — it's not that.
（ another soft kiss, this time pressed against one of sasuke's many bruises gained during their scene. ）
I don't want to keep things from you. But I also don't want to pour only stories of suffering into you until it drowns everything else. I've lived good lives, Sasuke. I've met good people. More good than bad. I've loved in a thousand languages. I've watched civilizations grow up out of the mud. I've taught people the fundamental language of the universe. I've seen sunrises in the most beautiful places, wild and remote, where no one has ever walked before me and no one will walk for a million years after. I've charted constellations across velvet-black skies until it felt like no corner of the universe was beyond my reach. I've held babies at their first breath and their elderly hands at their last.
（ sasuke is scratching idly at his scalp, and he closes his eyes against errant suds from the shampoo. luxuriating in the touch. ）
The good stories are the ones I want to share with you, not the awful shit. But I'll still tell you, if you ask. And if I don't, or can't, I'll tell you why.