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[breakingtraditions]

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[breakingtraditions]

...

[ ...

...

Nah, Gokudera's not the type to do that stabbing knives between the fingers thing. He's... more explodey. Still, why the closed eyes!??? ]

You're not going to do something dangerous, right?

[ >his life

>not dangerous. ]

[59]

Dangerous? Haha! [ It's a forced laugh, but he tries to make it genuine. He fails. Very badly. ] Of course not! Please, Tenth, just take a seat and relax!

[breakingtraditions]

[ And then there's that fake laugh too. This is not helping his nerves at all. But since Gokudera won't do anything bad to him anyways, he's... going to do just what Gokudera asked him to do.

Do it, Gokudera, while there's still the chance...! ]

[59]

— Great, good job. The next step is to stay very, very still... no matter what happens... Just keep your hands flat and your eyes closed, no matter what you fee— I mean, what happens. That's where the endurance and trust part of the training comes in! But I mean, you know I wouldn't do anything weird, boss... [ A wink, though he knows Tsuna can't see through his closed eyes. ] ... Haha.

[ That laugh again. Gokudera Hayato does not say 'haha.' Gokudera Hayato also does not paint his own nails, or other boys' nails, especially not his boss' nails, and especially not like this. At all. Ever. ... But he's done more absurd things in life, probably, right? So—

— Oh, fuck it, okay, here goes. Deep breath. Steady hands. It'll be over soon. He procures a nailpolish bottle from one of his pockets — he'd put a lot of thought into the color, actually; what would match well for the both of them? well, you can't go wrong with black — slowly unscrews the cap... will Tenth notice the chemical smell, even with his eyes closed and focus (hopefully) elsewhere? Whatever, it could be coming from somewhere else, or... ... something. Come on, just do it... ]

Okay... haha... [ Slowly, very slowly, he starts on the pointer finger of Tsuna's right hand. Thumbs are weird, don't lay flat like the other digits, so he'll just skip it for now. ]

Just stay still... [ Hey, now he's onto the second finger. This is a lot easier on someone else than it is on yourself. Gokudera's got pretty good attention to detail when it counts, but his own nails — especially those on his right hand — are smudged to no end. ]

[breakingtraditions]

[ He can feel it on his fingernails even with his eyes closed. It's kind of hard not to, considering there's also Gokudera holding his hand. And then there's the smell. That awful chemical smell that pervades his nose is well. Really familiar for some reason, but he can't exactly pinpoint where he remembered it from. Still, a peek wouldn't hurt right—

Blink.

This was not what he was expecting. No. Actually this shouldn't be happening at all. Haha, this is just a dream right? There's no way this is real right?

Blink.

oh my god he's painting my nails what is going on he really is painting my nails why!!!!!!!

Okay. Just stay calm. Breathe. Everything's gonna be okay.

Blink. ]

WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?

[ At least he's still staying still??? ]

I LAUGHED ALOUD; 1/3 probably

[59]

[ —!!

...

. . .

—He looked. ]

2/3

[59]

[ The color drains from Gokudera's face with such great speed that he feels it drop down to his stomach, and he stays frozen, hand with the brush poised between the bottle and Tsuna's fingers. His heart's probably pounding but he's honestly sure that he might actually be dead, or might have just disintegrated, particles suddenly unable to hold themselves together, or might have just dissolved into some sort of semi-liquid state and seeped right through the floor.

He's very still for a long while, even as a drop of polish slides down and lands on the table.

Very... very... still... ]

3/4 actually whoops

[59]

[ —whoa hey hey hey FUCK OKAY, pull yourself together Gokudera this mission is not fucking over yet. There are way worse things that could have happened, he could be in the middle of exponentially more embarrassing things and Tsuna's not going to be mad once he understands, probably, even if he can't understand completely right now, right? Right. ... Right? ]

IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TRAINING. [ He blurts it all out like it's one word, eyes wide. ]

okay done

[59]

[ —whew, wait, actually, that wasn't that bad at all. He just had to snap out of it and start talking. ]

—Like I said. Remember? [ Giving his head a little shake, — come on, you have to finish this... — he continues painting like nothing's wrong at all. ]

It won't take that long. It's— really renowned research, like I said...

[ I hate lying to you, Tenth, but it'll be worth it in the end, I promise...! ]

[breakingtraditions]

[ He's skeptical. Definitely skeptical about this, but from how Gokudera's flailing over everything, it seemed that he's just as unsure. There's a sigh. Well, he might as well deal with it for now since he seems really insistent.

He just hopes his 'mother' has a nail polish remover. ]

And you're... sure of this?

[59]

Absolutely! [ Without any thought. I'm going to fucking die I can't do this I can't I can't I can't&mdashl ]

—There, one hand down. And look — [ Giving his own fingers a wiggle before he starts on the next hand. ] We even match!

... Though come to think of it, maybe I should have just done my right hand, to symbolize my role as your right hand man... Next time, maybe. What do you think?

[ ... Yeah, he's definitely just rambling due to his nerves. Fuck the Landlord for this one. ]