Log: Ipin and Gokudera

[pinzutimebomb]

Who Ipin and Gokudera
What Gokudera opens the gift he got for Lambo and gets a massage lesson
When Friday night
Where SDC Ipin's room
Rating A for aaaaahhhh (G yo)


After stomping his cigarette out, Gokudera made his way onto the Sweet Death Submarine to find Ipin. No doubt she was probably still in possession of the gift he'd (unintentionally) left in her room. He set off through the halls of the submarine, counting doors as he stomped along, a determined glint in his eyes. Without bothering to knock, he threw open the door to Ipin's room, eyes cast in shadow as he stood in the doorway. "Hand it over." He barked.

Ipin looked up from her laptop in surprise as the air pressure in the room, from the shift of the door, sent a paper skittering from the little desk on which the present sat. She gave him an apologetic look and nodded to the present. She didn't think he'd actually come. He could be very ... action oriented sometimes though. Ok most of the time. "Hello Mr. Gokudera."

"Really. Having me come here to do something like this..." Gokudera grumbled as he walked in, noting the direction he'd nodded in. She didn't have to direct him to it. It was easy to spot the cow-print bag sitting in her room. Despite his rather quick movements, he picked up the bag carefully and approached her with it in his hands. "You're absolutely ridiculous for objecting to opening it, you know that?"

She grinned up at him cheekily. "I'm probably ridiculous for a lot of things, Mr. Gokudera." She closed her laptop and scooted over so he had somewhere to sit. "Sorry."

Gokudera held in his smile as she grinned up at him and settled for a rather dramatic eyeroll as he sat beside her. He untied the ballons and placed the string under one of his knees to hold them in place while he opened the bag. "See? It's nothing special." He reached in and pulled out a small blank bottle for her.

Ipin took it from him and turned the bottle in her hand, glancing back up at him. "What is it?" She asked, moving to twist the lid off and smell the contents. It smelled like.. maybe laundry detergent?

Gokudera chuckled as she sniffed it. He reached back into the bag and pulled out something small and golden before dropping it back in and grabbing something else. "I bet he'd try to drink it or something, stupid cow..." He shook his head as if dismissing any objection to the name calling that may come from her. He would not give up calling Lambo that name until he was much much older. The silver-haired boy dipped a small plastic stick into the bottle Ipin held and lifted it up slowly. The soapy solution clung inside the plastic circle, colors swirling over the suface as he moved it in front of his lips and blew slowly. A large bubble grew until he quickened the exhalation, causing it to seperate from the wand and float about before him. "Just bubbles." He shrugged and handed her the wand.

Ipin vaugely wondered if Gokudera and Lambo could EVER get along. She'd learned to pick her battles though and both parties called each other names. She watched him pull things out of the bag and her eyes lit up as she recognized the bubble wand. "Oh!" She lit right up. "It's been a long time since I played with bubbles. Lambo would have loved these when he was little." She held a hand out and the bubble settled for a moment like a witches glass ball shining rainbowy and reflecting their faces before snapping.

"Well, this was meant for the five-year old Lambo." Gokudera said. "And he's suppose to share with you. That's why there's more than one bottle in the bag." He said, showing her the only bottle that had a label on it.

"I bet even six... I mean seventeen year old Lambo would like them, but he'd never admit it." She reached out for the wand, "May I?" Sometimes she was still a little girl. There was something comforting about bubbles. The soft clean soapyness, the light floating. The shining rainbows. Ipin bit her lip and tried not to look too eager.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Gokudera handed her the wand he'd been holding while he opened the colored bottle. Once the lid had been twisted off and the protective seal removed, he dipped his little finger inside and then placed it in his mouth.

Fingers taking hold of the wand she dipped it delicately into the bottle of soapsuds, lifting it up and pressing her lips together to blow. But she paused and looked at him curiously. "Did you just taste some?" She asked in amusement. She finally blew, a string of bubbles streaming out with her breath and floating around them.

"Yeah." He said, as though there was absolutely nothing wrong with sticking soapy water in ones mouth. "Do you want to try?" Gokudera grinned at her. One of the bubbles Ipin had blown popped against a particularly spiky piece of his hair.

Ipin's laughter bubbled up. "It's just soapy water, I know what soap tastes like.. unless... is it flavored?" She lifted the bottle again curiously.

Gokudera gave her his usual disgruntled look, "I'm not stupid. Taste it." He said, tilting the bottle slightly and covering the label with his hand on purpose.

Ipin gave him a slightly distrusting look, then reached her pinky out to dip into the solution. She raised a brow and brought her pinky to her lips. She took a moment just looking at him thinking he was totally pulling one over on her before sucking her pinky into her mouth. It was... soapy but... "Oh my god you got grape!" She burst into laughter. "Mr. Gokudera you really did a good job on this one!"

He watched the girl with a smirk on his face, wondering how much she would have reeled if it was really just regular bubble mix. After having her staring at him, Gokudera was startled by her laughter and he almost drizzled the soapy mix on her, but caught it at the last minute. "Oh? Nah, it's nothing exciting. He'd probably get bored quickly or just drink it all... which is why there's a second bottle of the regular stuff." The storm guardian nodded down at the bag, "Just in case."

She was still chuckling to herself, she popped the wand into the flavored bottle and blew bubbles up into the air. "He really would have drunk it all. He'd be burping bubbles for a week." The mental image of bubble burping seven year old lambo sent her into another fit of laughter. "Knowing him he'd try to down the second one too."

"Nah, I don't think your younger self would let him," Gokudera said, watching her blow grape flavored bubbles and imagining Lambo trying to eat them all. He would look so silly jumping about like some kind of dog for a treat. He started to chuckle, "It would take you both a while to figure out that its flavored. That would be the interesting part." The silver-haired boy blew a regular soapy bubble, then caught it with his wand so he could make a conjoined bubble.

"My younger self had mixed luck saving Lambo from himself." She pointed out. She scrunched her nose as a bubble landed on it and popped. "That's true, you don't normally expect bubbles to taste sweet. "

"Heh. It wasn't a waste then." Gokudera said. "I'd have just given him candy, but I expected someone else would probably do that and he eats enough of it as it is. He doesn't need to be more annoying than he already is." He looked away as his awkward conjoined bubbles floated before him, eyes landing on the glove balloons.

"Ahh candy, I don't know how he didn't get a cavity. Luckily he could burn it all off but man. And he always stole mine too." She pouted a little and tilted her head when his attention seemed to divert.

"You can keep that bottle and wand. The flavored stuff is for him and so is this other wand I have..." Gokudera said, throwing his balloons a dirty look. What was he thinking, they looked nothing like udders. That was stupid. He pulled out a gold bubble stick that came with its own chain.

Ipin capped her bottle after sliding her wand in and leaned over to hug Gokudera. "Thanks! Oohh." She reached out to touch the chain. "Wow that's really nice."

Gokudera stiffened, raising his shoulders as she hugged him. He really needed to learn to get used to people invading his personal space, even if it was just Ipin. He blinked as she turned her attention to the necklace. "For the king of stupid grape bubbles."

She chuckled and sat back again, propping her chin on her hand. "Ahh king. He'd be so happy."

"Who would be happy to be king of something as useless as a bubble?" He blew a few more bubbles right at her before twisting the lid back on the bottle.

"King is the keyword. He'd love to be king of everythin-ack." She shut her eyes to keep soap suds out but she was grinning. "Anyway, you picked a really nice present, I'm impressed."

"I'm glad it has your approval." Gokudera said. "At least one of you will enjoy it." He certainly hoped so. If Lambo turned his nose up to the bubbles and then saw how much fun someone else was having, surely he'd want to enjoy his gift.

Gokudera would probably be right. Lambo hated when people had fun without him. She just grinned though and leaned back against the wall. "So do you want to learn how to massage?"

Gokudera nearly dropped the bottle he was attempting to place carefully back inside the cowprint bag. He fumbled with it and then gave her an awkward sort of gawk as he shut the bag tightly, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to know..." He murmered, tying the balloons back on sloppily.

Ipin had no idea why he got so flustered over the massage thing. She'd been doing it since she was four and it was just like riding a bike or doing kata. She sat up and then got onto her knees so she could turn on the bed so her back was facing him. "Just give me an idea of how much you know first. Just standard shoulder massage." She pulled her braids forward and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Think you can handle that?" She gave him a challenging look that was tinted with humor.

It wasn't so much that massaging embarrassed him. He just wasn't accustomed to being touched or touching other people. Yamamoto was an exception. He draped himself over Gokudera often enough that it was beginning to feel normal and that was just plain creepy. When he heard the challenge, he couldn't help but take her on. There was a moment of hesitance before his hands actually settled between the junctions of her neck and shoulders. He pressed with his thumbs, running them down and out as if searching for knots. His brow furrowed naturally out of concentration and he wished his hair would quick tickling the sides of his face. It was really getting annoying fast.

"Press harder." She said instructionally, just getting a feel for how he worked. "You're hitting the right spots."

Gokudera gave a frustrated huff at the order, but reminded himself that if he could learn and maybe properly give the Tenth a shoulder massage, it would all be worth it. "Hm. How's this?" He asked as he increased the pressure, visualizing that there were actual knots where the pads of his thumbs were rubbing.

She relaxed a little as the pressure increased, leaning back into the massage. He knew the muscle. That was nice, she could feel him adjust to press in against the spine and then slide up the trapezius, she could imagine her master's guides in her mind as his thumbs work. "Don't be afraid to use the heel of your hand or your fingers, each piece of your hand has a different use." She explained almost absently because the words had been repeated to her so often.

"Oh." He hadn't thought of that. Gokudera was so used to working with his fingers that the thought of the rest of his hand hasn't occured to him. It made sense. "Like this then?" He followed the same motions with the heel of his hands. As he pressed, he could feel her body shift against him and he learned to measure the pressure accordingly. It was easy to overcompensate for his fingers so he spread them out, pushing them up and just barely brushing her back with his thumbs before he added them back once more.

She could feel her muscles shifting under his touch. She should teach everyone how to massage, it was really nice. "Mmm that's nice." She managed to get out for him. She just let him experiement for a few minutes before giving him more instruction. "Try to add in my neck." She finally offered.

"Alright." He was curious about how he'd do. She had such a pretty, thin neck and he didn't want to be too rough. Gokudera's hands slid in closer to her spine and his thumbs pushed up beside it on either side. The rest of his fingers curled and he pushed his knuckles down, rolling them almost fluidly up her trapezius until they pressed the smaller muscles.

Ahh that was a tension reliever... She let her head drop forward a little and breathed in quietly. "Ahh really get that place where the muscle connects." She said, voice lazy now, if he learend to do this with breathing and timing he could be really good, she decided. If he wanted to spend the time on it, she'd definitely be willing to teach him.

He was so focused on not screwing up that the more she relaxed, the less he did. It was as if there was some internal struggle behind every little press of his fingertips. Gokudera increased the pressure of his hands slightly and rubbed out from her spine, following the dip in the muscles and doing what he hoped she needed. She was really finding this relaxing, wasn't she? The thought of making her feel better made him smile a little and boosted his confidence. Oh yeah, he was probably better than Yamamoto too!

It took her a moment in her relaxed state to feel the tension in his fingers. "Relax." Her voice was soothing. "Pause for a moment, take a deep breath and hold it. And then let it back out, pay attention to the energy your expanding from your body into mine. Go ahead and start up again. Your muscles should have a little give, don't be stiff just let it flow."

Gokudera blinked, a little dissapointed that he'd have to pause and start over again. He took a short breath and pulled his hands away, resting them on his own knees as he tried to relax into his own breathing. He took a long, full, deep breath, counting and then holding it for an equal length of time before exhaling slowly. The silver-haired boy raised his shoulders, tensing them up and then dropping them. He didn't know it, but it gave him more height and a better posture to do so. "Alright. I'm going to work a little higher on your neck now." He said, wating to pay attention to other points he knew but he'd never worked on. His hands slid back onto her shoulders and he waited for her, trying to keep in mind that he should reflect what he wanted to see in her. Relax man, you can do this, no problem. It's just a massage!

Ipin closed her eyes as his hands settled on her skin again, mind clearing. "Thats fine." She gave him permission in case that's what he needed. She felt for his breathing based on the way his body adjusted to hers and tried to match it. "Go ahead."

“Hmm,” Gokudera moved easily back up her neck, picking up where he’d last left off. With such a vast difference between Ipin and Tsuna’s body, he wondered how helpful practicing on her would really be. There weren’t so many tight muscles to ease on her. It was more about relaxing her than individual muscles anyways. His fingertips snaked up her neck, and as his ivory digits were covered slightly by her ebony hair, he was reminded of the piano he used to play for his mother when he was younger. A nostalgic smile crept onto his face as he continued to work.

Ipin wasn't concerned. If he could adjust to her she could find someone else for him to practice on afterward. But the idea was mostly to adjust to the person. If he could get that then he had nothing to worry about. "Why did Reborn stop you? Did you hurt Mr. Tsuna?" She asked curiously, oh that felt nice right there. As he started to feel nostalgic and stopping thinking so hard about what he was doing she could feel that tenseness slip away. His body reacted more naturally to what he was feeling in her muscles.

“Mmm,” Gokudera watched his thumbs, making sure to not leave any portion of her neck ignored. His fingernails scratched gently at her scalp as he laved the nape of her neck with attention. He was so lost in his actions that it took a moment for her question to register with him. “I… suppose.” The pale boy pouted slightly, worried that his boss may never trust him to give him a massage ever again. It was such a rare request, after all. He’d completely blown his chance. He sighed and slumped slightly, moving his hands down her neck as his fingers continued to work at her muscles. “It’s a good thing Reborn-san stepped in though. I’m sure Yamamoto would have bruised the Tenth had he not intervened.”

Ipin's breath came evenly despite the emotions she could feel in the way his hands moved. "Mr. Yamamoto is definitely a little enthusiastic about everything he does, isn't he. Press harder." She reached a hand back to pat his knee. "Don't worry, Mr. Tsuna's had much worse things done to him than a rough massage. He'll be fine."

"Oh. Sorry." Gokudera said, increasing the pressure until she reached back to touch his knee. He paused for a moment to look down at it, then continued again. "Yeah. He was trying to turn the Tenth into refreshed jello!" The pressure from his fingertips dramatically increased as a spike of anger coarsed through him.

The pressure increased almost perfectly for a moment and then Ipin's back arched as he pressed just a bit too hard. "Ahh, careful." She was starting to think Gokudera was the one who needed a massage. He'd seemed relaxed only moments ago. It was interesting to have friends who wore their hearts on their sleeves. "I'm sure Mr. Reborn took care of him."

"SORRY!" Gokudera clenched his teeth together and drew back, eyes wide. He slipped his hands off her, afraid of doing more damage. "Umm.. yeah." He looked down at his own hands, which were clasped so tightly over his kneecaps that the knuckles were almost white. He was annoyed by the fact that he kept unintentionally causing certain destruction. There was a reason why he was appointed Tsuna's Storm Guardian, after all.

Ipin turned on the bed and looked at Gokudera assessingly, then reached out a hand to pull his own from his knee, trying to be gentle about prying it. "I'm fine, I'm a martial artist you know. If that little push hurts me I have a lot bigger problems." She tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. Then nodded to the bed. "Lay down, I'll return the favor."

He had practically dug his fingernails into his pant legs and he wasn't going to move them. Even with her reassuring word's, Gokudera was ((too much of an angst-filled butthead)) far from being convinced. "I-I don't mean to treat you like you're weak." He mumbled, feeling even more stupid for making her tell him something he already knew. He'd seen her protect the people she cared about and he respected that. Gokudera gave her a blank look as she nodded to the bed and then shook his head furiously, silver hair whipping about.

Ipin pursed her lips at him, then crossed her arms. "Lay down." She insisted more forcefully. She raised a brow impatiently. If he kept being stubborn she'd force him down herself. She could see the whites of his knuckles and the strain on threads of his jeans.

Gokudera frowned openly at the command and then turned his face away, "I'd rather not." Besides, Yamamoto had already given him (bruises) a massage.

Ipin leaned in closer. "Even if you'd rather not, you need it." She reached her hand up to settle on the juncture of his shoulder and neck, fingers pressing into the muscle, then sliding down his shoulder cracking as her fingers released toxins that had built up. "I'm afraid if you don't behave I'm going to have to make you." She smiled sweetly at him. All soapbubble innocence despite the threat.

He tensed at the touch, "But I'm so-..." Gokudera shut up as she spoke, eyebrows raising at her words. "You can't make me do anything!" He barked rebelliously, having a hard time keeping his frown when she was smiling at him so.

Ipin's grin widened just a little bit more. "Oh you don't think so?" She asked him curiously. "Do you want to bet on that?"

"Tch. I'd like to see you try." He straightened up, giving her a challenging smirk. His grip eased about his kneecaps as he focused his attention on her.

Ipin's grin grew slightly dangerous because now she was having fun. "Well then keep your eyes open." Her left knee came up so that she was only sitting on her right knee at the same time her right hand tightened on his shoulder, her left hand drew up to grab for his wrist in something that looked like a koshi guruma, meant to yank his arm down toward her side at the same she pulled him in closer.

Gokudera's eyes widened. He was watching. He'd rather not have though, since he wasn't sure what she'd done but he was suddenly on his back. After this was all over, maybe he'd have to learn something about close combat because lately, he was pretty rusty with this kind of thing. He'd struggle more, but his heart wasn't entirely in it and if it was, he'd be fighting dirty and that just wasn't something he did to someone close to the family. Except maybe if it was Lambo, or Ryohei, or Hibari, or Mukuro.. okay, maybe he was just too unwilling to hit Ipin.

Ipin grinned down at him and pushed him to roll over, although she allowed him to do the majority of the work this time. "Now be good and let me help." She said pleasantly, adjusting for a moment.

He rolled his eyes and rolled over obediently onto his front, "Oh be quiet..." Gokudera grumbled, obviously a little annoyed by how easily she'd gotten him on his back. Despite his attitude, he glanced at her as if asking for further instruction.

She hummed and grinned at his inquisitive look, not at all bothered by his grumbling. "Find a comfortable position, sometimes it's nice to use your arms as a pillow, or you can use my pillow, oh, shirt off. It'll be easier." He didn't HAVE to take it off but it would be much easier to find all the knots if it was. She had a feeling Gokudera was a big ball of knots. She rubbed her hands together warming them up for him. "I don't have my needles here so just basic massage I think."

Gokudera propped himself up on one arm as he pulled off his shirt, "I don't.hn. Need a pillow." He pushed his shirt in front of him and crossed his arms. He hoped he wasn't too sore from when Yamamoto had attempted to massage him. Knowing his luck, he probably had a bruise somewhere and hadn't found it yet. He jumped at the mention of needles and looked over his left shoulder at her. "That's good!" He gave Ipin a relieved, slightly nervous look. He didn't like needles. He wasn't a wuss, but needles did NOT sound relaxing and he would definately hit her if she tried to stick him without any consent.

Ipin gave him an amused look at his relief. "You don't trust me?" She asked him rhetorically. She threw her leg over his hips and settled down carefully, if she had a proper table she could work astride but on a bed it was too awkward an angle. Her hands settled flat against his back for a moment, just getting a feel for him, eyes scanning old scars, new bruises, just mentally taking him in and already planning what she needed to do before pressing her hands in a little and sliding them up his back, then back down she began at his waist, pressing, kneeding, pushing away feeling for knots where her thumb would jump at tight muscle. Her brows drew together in concentration.

As she had assumed, there were plenty of knots in his back from hours spent pouring over his studies, his music, and his own aches. Disregard for his own well-being was a bad habit he seemed unable to give up. He was waiting for some kind of reprimand about it but was pleasantly distracted as her hands began to explore the expanse of his back. Gokudera hummed gently as her thumbs grazed tight spots. He wanted to start up some conversation but didn't want to break her concentration.

Ipin took her time, working one knot at a time, moving from one side of his back to the other and working her way up toward his shoulders. His whole body vibrated with his humming and she smiled to herself. She was carefully avoiding the newest bruises, but even those she'd graze lightly, just a soft touch, to adjust sometimes. "This isn't so bad, is it?" She asked him in a teasing voice.

"Nah." Gokudera said. How was she able to talk earlier? It was like every time he opened his mouth it was a struggle not to drool. He sucked in a breath as he ignored her touching another bruise slightly, "Never get to do this to the other me, would you?" He asked, turning his head and resting his cheek on his crossed forearms.

Ipin moved up enough that she had to rise and crawl forward a bit to reach his shoulders, then settle back down across his waist, careful not to put too much weight on him. Her fingers pressed into muscel and she had to push deeper up here he was carrying a lot of tension across his shoulders. She pressed out and then started again close to the spine and pushed out, working at the knots. "Mmm if he asked I'd give him one." She said pleasantly. She frowed a little. "But you don't really ask. Maybe if I lived in the base it would be more common but I'm not actually a part of the family. I'm in Italy now but staying with Lambo's family, and when I get back I'll have my own flat."

"He's probably busy a lot." It filled him with so much awe to think about a future where he served the Tenth faithfully and there was no one to look down on them. "Mmm so are you, then." Silence lingered between them and he just bathed in the feeling of her hands pressing into his muscles. There were so many sore spots and knots he knew of but could never reach. "You're so gentle." He sighed and closed his eyes. "You are no match for them, Ipin. You're outnumbered."

She made a soft noise agreement that they were busy. Her movements were calculated and she didn't waste extra energy working through methodically, breathing with him. She smiled a little. "We're just starting out, don't give up on me yet." She responded easily. As the upper knots began to fall to her fingers she started pressing deeper into the tissue, pushing out the knots that had worked their way down into him from years of stress and posture. Occasionally you could even hear the soft crack of toxins being pressed out soon Ipin had to sit up and lean into her work, pressing the heel of her hand into his shoulders to get enough leverage before she finally settled again and let her fingers slide up his neck pressing again and working diligently. "You mean the knots?"

"Ye-ah." Gokudera said, fingers flexing as though he needed something to knead at in return. "I-I wont give up if you duuhhn't" He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as she eased out the pent up tension from his muscles. With her fingers sliding up his neck he felt his eyes roll back in deep appreciation.

Ipin grinned as she felt his whole body settle, the engergy coming from him cooling a little and softening. She worked from the base of his neck up into where his hairline started, then buried her fingers in his hair. "Mmm putty in my hands?" She asked in amusement as she massaged his scalp, working forward toward his temples.

Gokudera struggled to open his eyes. However, as she worked up his neck and into his hair, his eyelids fluttered before closing. There was no use struggling and really, he didn't want to anymore. She'd found his weak spot and was exploiting it expertly. He wasn't going to complain. A shiver ran up his spine and he gave an approving groan, unable to actually answer.

She worked his temples for a moment in slow even strokes before sitting up and lifting her whole body to give him room, "Flip over for me please, Mr. Gokudera." She asked him politely.

"..Right." He pushed himself up and was surprised to find that his entire body was not dead weight. Gokudera hadn't wanted to move, but she'd asked him nicely and he was too relaxed to start objecting now. As he settled onto his back he blinked lazily up at her, "... why?" He felt his back tingling from where her hands had been working, as if there was some lingering set of hands just dusting over his skin.

She smiled down at him and settled back down. "Giving your back a rest, I'm going to work on your head and neck. Relax now." She leaned forward and pressed her fingers again back into the muscles of his shoulders, pulling up and over his shoulders first, then sliding up and pressing fingers in on either side of his spine at his neck and pulling forward again toward herself, slow and assured. As she finished his neck she moved to his forhead pushing from the center out pressing out tension that woud cause headaches, and pressure. She repeated the same motion concentrating on her work now.

Gokudera hadn't thought that his head needed massaging but as often as he was scowling, he suppose it made sense. Maybe this might relieve him of his daily headaches? He shut his eyes as she settled over him, prefering not to watch her as she worked for fear that he might make her uncomfortable. He took in a deep breath as she worked on his shoulders before moving up. How could Lambo not be upset if he walked in at that instance? The thought made Gokudera smirk slightly and he wondered if there was a baseball bat somewhere nearby that he could use to defend himself should the stupid cow decide to do anything.

For her part, she just couldn't imagine that there was anything non clinical about a massage. She'd been doing it so long his discomfort with it seemed silly. Admittedly she was a little naieve. But she wasn't concerned about Gokudera and she really didn't understand why Lambo would be upset. "What's so funny?" she asked curiously as she worked." She finished with his forhead, it was even a little red from the rubbing but that was quickly fading back to the normal color. She used her fingers to turn his head to the side, tilting it to expose his neck and then sliding her fingers up the side more to the front this time. Working it up to his ear then starting again at his collar.

"Ah! N-Nothing!" He said, toes curling. don'ttouchmyeeeeaaarrrrrsss Gokudera pleaded mentally, furrowing his freshly massaged brow. He squirmed a bit when her fingers moved up his neck and he sighed when they began to work on his collar.

She felt all that tension return to his body, and her fingers caught on a necklace he'd forgotten to remove. She raised a brow at him. "Relax I said." She reprimanded, sliding the necklace until she found the clasp and undoing before setting it aside with his shirt and other accessories. The entire pile clinked. She returned to her work, sliding her fingers up again.

"S-Sorry..." Gokudera stammered awkwardly and took a deep breath. He peeked one eye open as she removed the necklace. "Oh. I thought I got them all." He grinned bashfully as he realized that perhaps the necklaces worsened the strain on him. Some of them were heavy, after all.

She smiled and shook her head. She rarely wore jewlery. It interfered with martial arts and she didn't need new and unique ways for opponents to choke her. She'd never really warmed to it much anyway. Earrings she wore on occasion. She finished up on his neck and adjusted again. "Flip again, lets makes sure we've gotten all the knots out."

"I feel like a pancake..." He groaned as he rolled over. "Is that normal?" Gokudera said. He doubted that hot cakes had knots though, or got beat on quite as much. The storm guardian didn't bother to fold his arms this time. He simply pushed his face down against the blanket beneath him, rending his speech to odd sounding muffled noises and grunts.

Ipin laughed and settled back down on him, she lifted his left arm up, pulling it behind his back to push up his shoulderblade before pressing in against it, pushing through the muscles and kneading again. "Mmm.. I suppose I am flipping you a lot. Have to get you golden brown so you melt just right." She tried her hand at metaphore for him.

He heard something in his back crack, though where it originated he wasn't entirely sure. It felt good though. Hell, all of it felt good. "Nnoont mehmph mm." It was english somewhere, but he'd be shocked if she could make out what he'd attempted to say.

"Not melting?" She asked curiously, she let his arm fall to the bed and lifted the other to repeat the gesture. When she finished that she spread her hands out so her palms were flat against his back again and then leaned down and forward, pressing up the entire length of his back, pausing at the top before pulling them back, curling her fingers to scratch very lightly against his skin, then pausing again at his waist and pushing up again. "Let's see if we can fix that."

He tensed up to hold in another shiver as he moaned into the blanket. The next time he attempted to speak it came out as two grunts and he was completely positive something bad was bound to happen because this felt way too fucking good and he didn't deserve it. It wasn't his birthday, after all. Maybe when it was, he'd be able to treat Ipin to a massage just as good if not better to the one she was currently giving him.

Ipin grinned. It was always nice to know your work was appreciated and it meant she was doing it well. She finished and began pressing outward from his spine out to his sides in the same manner. Her braids brushed against his back now and then because she was concentrating so hard. She began winding down the massage finally.

Must. not. fall. asleep. on. Ipin's. bed. Gokudera turned his head so he could try to speak again, "Thanks." He sighed, unable to work up any spike of his usual strong emotions through his heavy lethargy.

Ipin's hand's had slowed to almost imperceptible circles on his back and she smiled down at him, he looked really comfortable. "You're welcome." She said cheerfully, "You look content." That was possibly even better thanks that the thanks he'd voiced. He was always so tense. It was nice to see he could relax if he needed to. She climbed off of him and settled down on one side of him, pushing some of his hair back off his face from where it had fallen when he turned his head, fingers brushing it back ward over his ear and tucking it behind to keep him from eating it.

As her hands slow, he felt the need to whine but couldn't bring himself to. "Hm." Gokudera gave her a content smile, watching her move out of the corner of his eye. When Ipin moved her hand toward his ear he jerked, bringing his own hand quickly to move hers away.

Ipin paused and pulled back in surprise. "Ahh, sorry." She looked a little concerned but let her hand fall to his neck instead. She tilted her head at him but smiled. "Just let it sink in. You don't have to move until you want to." She picked up the last necklace she'd taken off of him and ran the chain between her fingers absently, her eyes settling again on the pink glove balloons. Her eyes drifted from the balloons to the bag and back to the balloons, she paused and furrowed her brow. "Wait a minute... udders?" She burst into laughter. "Oh Gokudera, who knew you were so creative."

He pushed himself up but rather than slouch forward, he leaned back onto his hands and watched her, too lazy for the moment to put his shirt back on. The silver-haired boy ran a hand through his hair, and let his gaze wander about idly back to his small pile of necklaces until Ipin's outburst caught his attention. "Wha- oh! It's stupid but then again," He shrugged and smirked, "It's suppose to be since it's for him."

Ipin's smile softened and she looked at him affectionately. He must have spent time on those and the whole gift was well thought out. As much as he said he disliked Lambo, he seemed to have put some decent time and effort into the gift. Ipin felt a little smugly that maybe he didn't dislike Lambo as much as he pretended. "Mmm." She said almost knowingly.

Gokudera stood and stretched, arms extending over his head as he did so, "Ah!" It was with a refreshed smile that he turned to face her, bending down to grab his shirt. "I have a lot to learn, it seems." He said as he pulled his shirt back on and began putting on his necklaces.

She grinned and held up the necklace in her hand for him, the chain dripping through her spread fingers like water. "Let me know if you want me to teach you more sometime. I enjoyed it. I'm sure we can find volunteers."

"Hm, you could make a lot of money teaching people to do that, Ipin." Gokudera said as he fished in his pockets and retrieved a cigarette. He accepted the necklance from her as he placed the unlit stick between his lips. "I won't practice on just anyone, though." When he frowned, it was gentle and he glanced about for a moment before motioning her to stand up as well.

She grinned. That wasn't a terrible idea. If she ever needed side money anyway. "Hmm you think so?" It couldn't hurt especially when she moved back to Japan. She wanted to find a job in Italy as well. She glanced at him wondering why he wouldn't practice when he could. Always a study-bug she practiced things whenever and wherever she could. She stood up when he gestured and looked at the cigarette thoughtfully but said nothing.

He saw her staring at the cancer stick in his mouth and pouted slightly, "what, it's not even lit. Don't look at me like that." Gokudera placed a hand in his pocket and walked up to her, drawing an arm about her shoulders as he had seen Yamamoto do to Tsuna. Concluding that he looked retarded, he stopped and settled to simply smile at her.

She smiled a little apolgetically, looking surprised at the half hug. He seemed uncomfortable with it but when he stepped back and smiled at her she leaned forward on the balls of her feet and slid her arms around him in a quick affectionate hug.

Gokudera didn't flinch away from the hug, though it still surprised him a little. He'd just have to get used to it. The Storm Guardian lifted one arms and wrapped it about her. His other hand patted the top of her hair and he chuckled, "You're too nice to me."

She pulled back and stuck her tongue out at him. "You're an important friend." She pointed out. She flushed a little. "I give you pleanty of trouble too, I'd say it balances out in the end."

"Sure." He began putting a few rings back on his left hand as he turned back to the door of her room to leave, "Now to go back and find some more ants." The silver-haired boy rolled his eyes, wondering if maybe most of the ants were some kind of prank. A really really really really annoying prank.

Ipin moved back toward the bed to fix the sheets. "Good luck with that. I guess at least it's keeping you busy." She smiled to herself and turned to begin pulling a corner tight to tuck in.

"Tch. Yeah, and everyone else too." He gave a slight laugh as he opened the door and looked over his shoulder at the birthday gift beside the bed. "Ciao." Gokudera stepped out, straightening his shirt up a little