The Greenhouse [A Gaara Love Story]

2: An Offer

"He didn't answer our questions or have any of his own- the boy hasn't said a word since he got here," The doctor informed them, flipping through the clipboard in his hand, "He's a bit underweight and there are a few dental hygiene issues, but nothing that can't be easily fixed. Physically, everything seems to be alright, Lord Kazekage."

"Thank you," Gaara said and the doctor before him nodded in return, "May we see him?"

"Of course."

The man stepped aside and Momoko tightened her grip on his arm just a little. Gaara looked down at her, at the uneasiness in her gaze, but when he laid his hand over her own she seemed to calm just a bit. She was nervous, that was obvious, and he didn't have to know the exact reason to understand her feelings. He gave her hand a small squeeze and together they entered the small hospital room.

A young boy was sitting on the edge of the bed, his face turned away from them as he looked out the window. He made no sign of having heard them, didn't turn their way or move a single muscle to indicate he even knew they were there at all. His hands were folded in his lap and littered with new bandages, resembling the kind that sporadically covered the visible length of his arms. The sight of him was more sad than anything else, with his lanky limbs and bruised skin.

"Shinki,"

At the sound of Gaara's voice the boy perked up just a bit, his fingers twitching slightly in his lap, before he turned to look at the pair of them. Momoko didn't expect the painted markings on his face, or the cold look in his eyes, but he seemed even less sure of her than she was of him. She stopped just past the door as Gaara stepped closer to him and the boy's gaze flickered to him for just a moment before settling back on the woman at his side.

"This is my wife, Momoko." Gaara introduced her, the tenor of his voice soothing in the ways it always was when he meant to comfort.

He wasn't entirely familiar with the sight of the Kazekage, but there were a few details he could see now that had been lost on him in the tense moments of their first meeting. The faint wrinkles around Gaara's pale eyes and the tired look in them showed the years he had endured, as did the forming lines in his forehead from the countless times his brow had been knotted. He looked his age but still held the handsomeness of his youth on his pale face; he was one of those men who aged with grace.

His wife was a stranger sight, one Shinki stared blatantly at. The dully colored top she wore left her inked arms exposed, each their own gardens of tattooed flowers the young boy didn't recognize. The scar carved into her forehead was identical to that of her husband's in nearly every way, lacking only slightly in neatness. It matched the scars that covered her face, marred her cheeks, and ran down the length of her visible body. Together these injuries and dark tattoos should have made her a threatening sight, one that even skilled men may have been deterred by, but for some reason Shinki was not intimidated by her in the slightest.

For every odd characteristic, she had a normal one to balance it. Her face may have been scarred but her eyes were gentle and lined with the same wrinkles as her husband's. She showed more signs of age with the white that sporadically streaked through her short blonde hair and the lines setting between her eyes, but there was a beauty to her that lingered from her youth. There was hesitance despite the way she stood straight and almost alert. Momoko was a collage of strange and normal, and Shinki let himself stare. He could tell his blank gaze was making her uneasy, but he didn't much care.

They were a strange pair and yet they complimented each other rather well; even as a child he could see that. Their demeanors reflected each other in kindness and composure, both of them collected and carrying an unspoken grace to them that was clear in the way they moved and interacted with the world around them. Lord and Lady Kazekage were as odd as they were ordinary, the perfect balance between unusual and incredibly simple. Shinki wasn't sure what to make of them.