[written]

[thethundersaid]

[public]

Who among you is good with languages?

[private -- to Rikka]

You had a number of people possessed, didn't you? How has their recovery been?

Comments

[thethundersaid]

[He sees and is expecting the Sharingan, but it's a sign of how long they've been on board together that he's also expecting the fade away of the red that comes in the next moment. There was a time when he'd been obscurely proud to inspire the Sharingan in his brother, to be one that Itachi regarded as dangerous enough to be on his guard around, but times have changed.

Sasuke has changed, really. This Itachi doesn't know what that time was like.]

You can keep sleeping. It was just too cold to be out here without a blanket.

[forthevillage]

[Itachi shakes his head, though he stops trying to get up for the moment as his legs seem to have fallen asleep at the same time he did.]

I should not sleep out here. I have... things to work on.

[Things that anyone else could take care of, he knew, but he felt better when he could show that he was still an asset to the crew.]

[thethundersaid]

[He takes advantage of Itachi's momentary stillness to finish tucking the blanket in around his brother's shoulders, unprofessional but still neat enough to block out the chilly wind. The deck is probably not the best place for a nap, but leaving Itachi belowdecks and cooped up in a room had gotten old fast during the witch's attack.

He has to resist the urge to roll his eyes at Itachi's insistence, though, settling back to sit on the deck himself as if in demonstration of how useful everyone else is being at the moment.]

Yeah, so does everyone else, but Marvelous slept for a week and the rest are out shopping. If the captain of this ship can take a break, so can you.

[Maybe it's hypocrisy as far as sleep is concerned, but at least Sasuke knows his own lack of sleep is less about working and more about longstanding insomnia.]

[forthevillage]

[Itachi has many other excuses on his tongue to answer with, but he stops himself. In this pause, a yawn manages to slip out. He doesn't wish to disturb the blanket that Sasuke has just taken the time to finish tucking around him and thus doesn't even raise a hand to cover it.

Blinking tiredly, he turns away from his brother to stare at the deck near his feet. It's cold up here, but he's slept in much worse. He isn't likely to get pestered too much by other members of this crew either, especially not while Sasuke is still around.

Part of him is still just fighting the idea of this.]

[thethundersaid]

[If Itachi had another argument in there, it looks like it was stopped up by that yawn -- Sasuke's mouth twitches at one corner, unexpectedly amused by something as human as that coming from his brother. But Itachi has been more human here, perhaps because he hasn't had the time outside the village to learn how to hide it.]

Go ahead and sleep. I'll stay close. [He pauses, then contemplates the deck.] Unless you want me to bring you a pillow, too.

[forthevillage]

[Itachi shakes his head. Sasuke has done more than enough already. He doesn't need to be waited on and he doesn't like the idea of sending his brother off to fetch more things for him. If he wanted a pillow that badly, he could get it himself - and sleep in his own room while he was at it.

It's selfish to want the other ninja close by, but he can't help but find it comforting all the same. He'd thought the presence of another might make sleep difficult, but it might actually be easier.]

I'll be fine.

[He adjusts the way he's sitting so he's a little more comfortable, eyelids already drooping again.]