Persistence versus Evanescence - Sasori x Reader, Akatsuki Publishing House AU
tagging: @wing-ed-thing, thank you for listening to my brainstorming, @ladyloveroll for feedback and @missalienqueen because you'll like it
Akatsuki publishing house - Drink orders!
Madara: the owner, hardly around, bring him an Espresso Martini disguised as an Espresso when you see him
Nagato: Romance, chief editor - always the pink drink, but write Konan on it
Konan: crafts and Historical Fiction - coffee, black, dark roast - write Nagato on it
Yahiko: Young Adult - Matcha Latte with almond milk
Tobi: reads through all the manuscripts that are being sent in and chooses new authors - hot chocolate with marshmallows
Itachi: Fantasy and Science Fiction - green tea with honey
Kisame: Sports, Action and Adventure - Gatorade
Deidara: Literary Fiction and Poetry - newest thing on the menu or a Caramel Frappucino
Sasori: goes through Grammar and spelling, formerly Literary Fiction - coffee, black, and a blueberry muffin
Zetsu: Cookbooks, Gardening books and Medical Journals - herbal tea
Hidan: Horror and anything adjacent - Red Bull
Kakuzu: Self-Help and Finance - nothing, it’s too expensive
-
Your phone rings just as you step forward in line.
You greet the Barista with an apologetic smile and press the button on the Bluetooth headset in your ear, ignoring the annoyed groaning behind you. At least the Barista knows what’s up, because she takes the note you hand her with a knowing smile.
After working for Akatsuki Publishing for almost two years you don’t need a note to remember everyone’s coffee orders. They stay the same anyway. But the Baristas change and you can count on your clients calling at the exact moment you want to be left alone.
“Shikamaru, hi!” You force yourself to smile. He can hear if you frown.
“No, I haven’t talked to Kakuzu today… He didn’t… Yes, I am aware he’s not the most pleasant to work with but I’m sure he didn’t mean it that-...”
You pinch your nose and hand over the company credit card, shuffling along to pick up the drinks.
“Tell you what, Shikamaru, I’ll talk to Kakuzu once I’m back in the office. We both know he won’t apologize but I’ll do my best, okay?”
There’s a man already waiting for his coffee when you hang up and he sends you a friendly smile. He’s tall, attractive even with the long black hair - you’re not that into men with long hair - and the way he looks at you tells you he’s at least a little bit intrigued.
You offer him a smile in return, not really interested in a conversation, but not wanting to be rude either.
“Your coffee.” A Barista hands him his drink and he stays, leaning against the wall now as he eyes you.
“You seem familiar.” He says. “Have I seen you before?”
“I don’t think so. But I have… I just have that kind of face, I guess.”
“No, no.” He shakes his head. “I am sure I’ve seen you before. What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m a literary agent.”
He nods. “Were you present at this year's awards?”
“Er, no.” You shake your head. “I couldn’t come because of family issues. But my- well, one of my authors won a prize. You might have heard of him. Gaara Sabakuno, wonderful debut novel.”
“Desert tears, yes, I know.” He looks wistfully for a second before he snaps his fingers, jolting you out of a rather pleasant memory concerning last week’s discussion with Gaara - his new book was coming along great.
“Now I know. You’re from Akatsuki Publishing. They hired you the day I left.” He looks over the amount of drinks that have started arriving in front of you. “Two years is it now, right? To bad you’re still the one getting the drinks.”
You force yourself to smile brightly, remembering the name of your predecessor from conversations.
“Getting Drinks isn’t the only thing I do, Orochimaru. Sadly I haven’t heard much of your independent Publishing house. Village of noise, was it?”
“Village of Sound.” He still smiles sweetly but you have enough of this interaction.
“Well, good luck with that. I’ll take my leave now.”
-
You’re still fuming a little when you get back.
Tobi’s not at his desk so you leave his hot chocolate there. Zetsu gets his herbal tea and an honest smile as he offers you a rose from his garden.
The next office is almost silent, as Itachi and Kisame both wear noice cancelling headphones. You’ve never been able to find out what Itachi listens to as he works his way through Fantasy and Science Fiction novels, but Kisame is watching a football match on one screen while editing a novel on the other.
“Gatorade for you.” You hand it to Kisame who’s not even looking, “And green tea with honey for you, Itachi.”
He sends you a smile before looking back down, always focused on work. His desk is clean and organized, the only personal thing a picture of him and his little brother Sasuke who’s glaring into the camera.
You skip the other offices on this level and take the stairs.
Yahiko is taking a nap at his desk and you leave his drink - a Matcha Latte with almond milk - next to the impressive stack of Manga on his desk.
Konan’s knitting. “I’m just fact-checking a pattern.” She says. “You can leave both drinks with me. Nagato is in a meeting with the boss.”
Their order is still your favorite on the whole list.
One pink drink for Nagato and one black coffee, dark roast, for Konan. But switch the names to make it look like they ordered the other thing.
You haven’t judged Nagato once for his choice in drinks. He’s the one who hired you and so far he’s never been what others might assume of him. He looks a little frightening but is the nicest boss you’ve ever had. He edits primarily Romance Novels and Chick Lit but reads Medical Journals in his free time and he might love his pink drink even though he seems the type of person who survives on black coffee alone.
Well, who are you to judge with your Caramel Frappucino?
You walk back down and open the door to Deidara’s office.
“They have two spring specials.” You announce and he sits up straight immediately. “Mint flavored Matcha or the Peach Pie Latte Macchiato.”
“What? Peach isn’t even spring-themed!”
“I know, right? You put the cup in front of him. “Guess what I got you.”
“Please tell me you didn’t get mint. You know I hate mint.” He gives you his best puppy dog eyes before he takes a sip and lets out a sigh of pure satisfaction.
“You’re the best coworker and person in the whole world.”
“Thank you, thank you. Remember that when Hinata-chan calls the next time because you were too pushy with her poetry.”
“But-!” He starts and you hold up a finger. “No buts. I know you’d love it if she would scream them from the empire state building, but we got to respect her personality.”
“Fine, fine.” He eyes the drinks you have left.
“Let me guess. Red Bull for Hidan and the black coffee is for Sasori because you’ve got a bone to pick with Kakuzu and he always makes you go to Sasori for him?”
“Wow, you should work as a fortune teller.” You tell him, silently glad that he didn’t guess the real reason Sasori’s cup always stays the longest with you.
-
Hidan’s completely focused when you arrive, which is rare.
Kakuzu, however, is in the worst mood possible.
“You can’t talk to your authors like that.”
He harrrumps. “He shouldn’t be an author if he cannot explain it in a way others can understand.”
“Shikamaru is a genius. It’s hard to motivate him as it is. Do you know how hard I had to work for him to actually write that second novel?”
“Please. He probably was all out of money, that’s why he had to write it.”
“Kakuzu.” You level him with your best glare. “What do I need to do to get you to apologize?”
“You’d have to kill me and use my corpse for that.”
“Kakuzu.” You stare at him. You tried your puppy dog eyes once, when you had first started, but that had gone so wrong you never tried them again with him.
The seconds tick buy. You don’t move. You don’t blink.
The coffee in your hand is getting colder and colder.
“Fine.” He huffs. “I will not apologize but I will write my opinion again in a more polite manner if, and I repeat, if you get Sasori to go over Kabuto’s manuscript today.”
“Did you ask him for that?”
“No.” He huffs again. “The guy hates me. He’d put it to the end of the line if I asked.”
You snort. “He’d not do that.”
“He would. Has done it before. Do we have a deal?”
You roll your eyes and stretch out your hand for him to shake. “Deal. Better get writing that apology.”
-
Sasori’s office is blissfully quiet. Well, quiet except for the incessant typing.
Sasori was probably the first to switch to an all-digital workplace and he looks at home behind his giant computer screen.
He doesn’t look up when you enter but you know he’s noticed you.
You don’t allow yourself to stop and look at him, even though you wanted to do that since you’ve met him.
He’s pale but not freckled, his hair a burning red, and his eyes a deep chocolate brown. You met him on your first day of work and your impression - that he’s the prettiest man you’ve ever come across - has not changed since then.
But he’s not just the prettiest man you know, he’s also the grumpiest.
“Do I have to wait for my coffee to freeze over before you hand it to me?”
You jump, realizing with burning shame that even though you always tell yourself not to linger, you’ve gotten lost looking at him again.
You smile. “Sorry, here it is. I always ask for extra hot coffee so it should be okay.”
He raises an eyebrow and takes a sip, curling his lip a little.
“Could be hotter.” He mumbles.
“Yeah, but you know what else I got?” You pull the paper bag from your purse. “One Blueberry muffin just for you.”
“I didn’t ask for a Blueberry muffin.”
“I know, but you like them.”
“I like them on Mondays.”
Your face falls. “Didn’t… I mean if you want something else, I could….”
“It’s fine.” He takes the muffin from you and puts it on his desk, turning his chair slightly so that he can look at you.
Getting Sasori to take a break from work is a feat in itself, it almost makes up for everything else.
“So there’s something I wanted to ask.”
He looks back up from picking the paper off his muffin.
“No.”
You pout.
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”
“Kakuzu wants one of his novels to skip the line.”
“Yeah, but….”
“I have a system and I don’t like meddling with it.”
“Not even if I beg?”
You dramatically go down on one knee and look up at him. “Please?”
He stares at you, wordlessly. You know you’re doing your worst here, but this is Sasori. If you’d had a shot with him, you overshot it your first month here when you accidentally called him “the hot editor” instead of “the host editor” on that stupid introduction day.
It does hurt a little, when you’re home alone and dreaming of him, knowing that he won’t ever look at you like you look at him, but it eases the nerves a little when you dare to make a fool of yourself.
“Fine.” He says. You blink in surprise. That was easy.
“But I want something in return.”
“I mean, I can get you another coffee.” You start and the way he looks at you now has you silent, mouth dry.
“There’s an art show this weekend.” He starts. “I need to bring someone with me. You’ll be my date.”
Your jaw unceremoniously falls open. Your mind goes a little hazy around the edges and you have half the mind to wonder if you’ve forgotten how to breathe.
Did Sasori just use the word date in context with you? And him?
“Will that be a problem?”
“No.” You sound embarrassingly breathless when you speak so you clear your throat and repeat yourself.
“No, no problem at all. I’ll… I’ll let Kakuzu know…”
“You could let him suffer for a while.” Sasori offers calmly. “Stay a bit. I don’t mind your presence. You’re only half as annoying as the rest of them.”
You know you have it bad when that sounds like a praise to your ears.
You don’t trust your knees enough to carry you, so you fold your legs until you sit crisscross on the floor and look up at him.
“I met Orochimaru at the coffee shop. He was being a dick.”
Sasori snorts into his coffee. “He’s always been a dick.”
“Yeah, but he tried to make me look like I’m just a glorified intern because I get the drinks.”
Something flashes in Sasori’s eyes. You know he’s never been friends with Orochimaru but his harsh answer still surprises you.
“That man has never been more than a glorified intern and it’s a surprise he still has a publishing house to turn to.”
“Well, I did push Gaara’s win in his face when he went on about how I wasn’t at the awards this year.”
“You and Gaara are pretty close,” Sasori mentions off-handedly and you cock your head thinking about it.
“I don’t know. He’s one of my favorite authors because he’s so easygoing, for sure, and while Naruto’s writing is amazing too, his dyslexia makes work harder for you… and all of us, I mean. So, well… I guess I’m close with all my authors.”
“Even Jiraya?”
You shudder. “No, okay, I’m not that close with Jiraya.”
Sasori laughs and pops a piece of muffin into his mouth.
“So your top three authors are Gaara, Naruto and… let me guess…” He thinks for a moment, his eyes moving over you. You feel too hot all of a sudden but you don’t dare to move.
“It’s probably Hinata because while Tenten is as exciteable as Naruto and as easygoing as Gaara, I think you like her the most of all your female authors because she’s the sweetest.”
“Yeah.” You laugh softly. “Guilty as charged.”
Sasori looks a little smug at your answer and you want to ask something, not really knowing what, just to keep the conversation going when your phone rings.
“Oh god, it’s Sai.” You breathe out before summarizing the situation to Sasori. “Brilliant author, does primarily Horror. Has the worst case of imposter syndrome I’ve ver seen.”
“Good luck.”
-
By Friday you’d love to say that you’ve all but forgotten about that particular conversation with Sasori.
But you haven’t. Overthinking has got you this far in your career, but if you could just stop overthinking this date for a second, you’d probably end up with less heartache.
He’s probably forgotten all about it anyway.
He found someone else to take.
Or realized that in this day and age, you can just show up without a date and call it a day.
And even if he takes you, it’s just a favor you have to pay him for him doing Kakuzu a favor and isn’t that all messed up anyway?
“Are you okay?”
You blink.
Nagato’s staring at you and you wonder, hope, fear - did you just think out loud?
“You’ve been staring into space for a while,” he explains softly, his dark red hair reflecting the sunlight. It’s almost the same shade as Sasori’s. Which has you thinking of him again.
“I’m sorry.” You shake your head as violently as you can without attracting even more attention. “I’m overthinking.”
“Oh, I’m familiar with that. Can I help?”
“Uh.”
Nagato takes a seat, either not realizing you’d rather not talk about this with your kind-of-boss or not caring about it at all.
“When I overthink, it helps me to put everything into perspective. For example… Yahiko and Konan want to move out. This would leave me all alone. Oh no, will I ever find joy again?” He chuckles to himself a little too darkly for your taste. You blink. He continues without further prompting.
“Now imagine it as a book. We start with the protagonist who’s lived his whole life with his two best friends by his side. Now they want to move out. What will happen to the protagonist?”
“Oh!” You can’t help yourself, your finger raised like you’re back in school. “I know! The protagonist searches for new roommates and one of them is this cute girl who works part-time as a Barista but dreams of being a Full-Time Cat-Sitter! They immediately hit it off!”
Now it’s Nagato’s time to blink.
You just start to wonder if you’ve overstepped when his hand comes up to rub his chin.
“That’s actually not a bad idea…”
“Can we turn it around?” You ask, now fueled by inspiration. “I’m supposed to go on a date with a guy I’m crushing on but it’s not a real date, it’s more like a ‘I don’t want to go and I don’t know who to bring, so will you go with me’ kind of thing.”
“Ah.” Nagato nods. “Well, you know the rules! First, we need a make-over scene. Take your best friend shopping and find a spectacular dress or outfit of your choice that makes you feel great.”
“Do I have to go shopping for that? I can think of three cute outfits at the top of my head and they’re all hanging in my closet.”
“Even better, we’re saving the environment here. That means you can go on to the next step. You have fun at that event. If it’s a date, it’s a date. If it’s not a date, you’ll surely meet someone else there.”
“But-”
“Ah.” Nagato raises his hand to stop you. “I don’t make the rules. And before I forget, I’m still waiting on that Romantic Drama you promised me.”
“Oh!” It’s your turn to hold up your hand. “I got it, I got it! Shino sent it over today. It’s fantastic, as usual. I cried three times just reading through the rough plot.”
“Ah, Shino!” Nagato cracks a rare smile. “Don’t tell him but he might be my favorite author. You can always count on him to break my heart.”
-
It’s half past three on Saturday afternoon when your phone beeps with an incoming message. Your hair is up in a messy bun, your face covered in a chocolate mask - sadly enough it was named after its look and not its taste.
It’s Sasori. He’s picking you up in half an hour.
The only positive thing you can find about this is that you only have thirty minutes to stress yourself out. Not that you have much time for that as you fly from one room to the next, washing your face, trying to make something out of your hair, the small amount of makeup you have, the jewelry you never seem to be able to find.
Sasori is punctual.
You’re a little out of breath when you open the door for him.
“Did you just come home?” He asks. He’s not commenting on your outfit. Is that good or bad?
“Eh, no, I was… just multitasking, is all.” You cringe at your wording. God, why are you awkward?
“Let’s go then?” Sasori offers you his arm, slowly taking it down when you don’t take it, too surprised by the gesture. “Nevermind.”
“No, I- I want to-” You cut yourself off, cringing even more.
He offers you his arm again and you take it, too embarrassed to look into this eyes.
“You look good.” He tells you, quietly enough that you think you’ve imagined it. He does not repeat it anyway.
-
“What’s this art show about anyway?” You ask, minutes before you’re about to enter.
“The theme is Evanescence versus Persistence.” He explains. His arm is warm and steady as you lean on it and he smells too good to be true. Help.
“What does that mean?”
“There’s art that’s made to last and art that’s made to be gone, changed in a second. I’m one of the artists picked for the Persistence part.”
“Wow! I didn’t know you were an artist.” It makes sense though, in a way.
“The pictures… the one in your office, are they from you too?”
“No.” He shakes his head softly. “They’re from my grandmother. She taught me everything she knew. I like to keep my family close through them.”
“That’s sweet.” He glares at the comment, but you can tell he’s exaggerating a bit. Just for you? Who knows.
“How do you manage?” You ask when there’s a lull in your conversation. You’re enamored by the art, not just his. For this art show, he explained, he took pictures of things that are usually gone in an instant, like a sunrise, or an insect taking flight and burned those pictures into wood or poured them into resin, making sure that they persisted the passing of time.
“What do you mean?”
You point back at the picture of the sunrise. “So you get up early enough to capture the sunrise, find the time to make breakfast, and still make it to the office before everyone else? And to top it all off you’re awake enough to find mistakes in a text when I make typos as soon as I’m even deprived off of ten minutes of sleep in the morning?”
“Oh.” Sasori nods. “That. Well, I’m single, I have barely any friends, I can do whatever I want with my time.”
You’re not sure what possesses you to talk in that moment, but the words are over your lips before you’ve fully thought them.
“Do you ever want to change that?”
His eyes widen. You want to disappear into the floor.
Before you can take them back though, a voice calls your name. And you know that voice.
“Deidara?”
You blink in surprise at the blond. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean, what am I doing here? I present my work tonight. Come, you have to watch!” He pulls your arm. Sasori’s still frozen in place. So you follow Deidara.
After all, what did Nagato say? If it’s not a date, surely you’ll meet someone else.
-
It’s not hard to figure out that Deidara’s art is part of the Evanescene theme.
He’s prepared a firework of art, literally. And it’s pretty, breathtaking even, but you can’t help but look for Sasori every chance you get.
It’s only when the masses of people are dwindling down again, that you’re able to spot his red hair again.
You move toward him, but Deidara’s not yet ready to let you leave.
“How did you end up here anyway?” He asks, eager eyes mustering you over his drink. “You didn’t tell me you were planning to come.”
“I didn’t know you’d be here. I wasn’t even sure I’d come. Sasori-”
“Oh yeah, what was that about anyway?” He asks, taking a sip of his champagne. “Did he catch you when you came in?”
“No, he invited me.”
Deidara’s eyes widen as he chokes on his drink, barely able to keep it down.
“He what? Why?”
“He said he needed someone to come with him and I owed him a favor.”
Deidara laughs. You’re not sure what’s so funny about all of it.
“Honey.” He clears his throat but he still sounds at the edge of another wave of laughter. “He lied. He just wanted to ask you out.”
“No way.” You hiss. “Not Sasori. Not me.”
“Why not? You’re hot. Ah, go, go, get back to him. Let the poor man finish his weird plan. I’m sure he got one. This is Sasori after all.”
Deidara waves you off, leaves you no choice but to follow his request.
You find Sasori easily.
He’s looking at one of his picture. It’s Sunrise over the sea.
“I think I like this one best.” You tell him quietly as you step up to him.
“Hm.” He doesn’t sound too interested in your opinion. Surely Deidara must be in the wrong. Well, there’s only one way to find out.
“So… Deidara said something.”
“Did he now?”
“Yeah. That you didn’t… need… to bring someone along.”
“What do you think?” Sasori’s dark eyes bore into yours. “What is more powerful? Evanescence or persistence?”
Your mouth opens and closes. Your tongue’s looking for words but can’t find it, not under his intense gaze at least.
“I don’t know,” you finally manage. “What’s more powerful, at least. I just know… Well, I’d prefer Persistence, you know?”
“Why?” There’s a breathyness to his voice that you might have imagined.
“I’d choose someone who stays with me over something fleeting everyday.” You realize your mistake a little too late. “Err, I mean, something that stays.”
When you look back at Sasori, his eyes are closed. He takes a deep breathe and opens them again.
“Come on.” He stretches out his hand and takes yours, rubs his thumb over the back of your hand as if that didn’t stop your heart from beating. “Let’s get something to eat.”
“E-eat?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that what you do on dates? Dinner and a show? I’m sorry I turned it around.”
You blink. “So it’s a date?”
Sasori nods. You’re pretty sure you’re not imagining the blush that’s rising on his pale cheeks.
“A date-date, if you’re still overthinking it.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You totally were.”
“Okay, fine, but-” He leans forward, stops just short of kissing you.
“Yeah?” He asks and you forget what you wanted to say.
-
Sasori parks his car in front of your apartment building, but he makes no move to pull out his key or cut the music that’s softly playing in the background.
Dinner had been amazing, great food in a quiet Restaurant where the cook knew Sasori by name. Your cheeks are warm, your belly full. During dinner, during the drive, his hand occasionally took yours.
“Why me?” You ask, now that you can almost see the end. You could just keep quiet and hope for a kiss goodnight, but that just wouldn’t be you, would it?
“Do you know that most new hires are scared of me?” Sasori asks, staring ahead. “I thought it was all of them until you came along.”
You furrow your brows. “What do you mean? I was scared of you.”
“No.” He laughs softly. “You tripped into my office on your first date, smiled brightly and asked me what I wanted to drink. And then you brought me a Blueberry Muffin just because they had them on display and you thought I could like one.”
“Yeah, and you do like them.” You remind him, unable to keep quiet. You barely remember that first meeting, only know that you’d been stunned by his beauty, your impression of him only growing softer when you realized he was hardworking too. Kind, in his own way. A little hard to bribe, but never one to refuse help.
“I never liked Blueberry muffins until you gave me one.” He says as if it’s that simple. And then he leans over and looks into your eyes, voice breathless as he asks: “Can I kiss you? Please?”
- - -
You’re leaning over Sasori’s chair, pointing out something in Naruto’s newest work when the door opens.
Karin, your newest trainee, peeks her head inside. “Hey, I’m running to the coffee shop. Do you guys want something?”
“No thank you.” Sasori’s answer comes quick. You’re left to ponder. In theory, you could use a coffee. More than that you could use the short walk to the coffee shop that you’re missing out on since Karin took over drink duty.
“She’s fine.” Sasori points out when you’re unable to find an answer.
Karin nods and the door closes.
“I kinda want a coffee though.” You point out. Sasori nods. “I know. We’ll go together in a minute.”
“Oh?” You blink, press your face into his neck because you know it annoys him. Also, he smells really good. “You could just have sent Karin for it then.”
“It’s not the same,” he grumbles, moving around when your hair tickles his skin. “Besides, I like going out with you.”
You smile into his skin, and press a featherlight kiss to where goosebumps are starting to form.
Persistence still wins over Evanescence.