good (II)
Madara put his plan in action the next day when he returned to the tower, just waiting for Tobirama to do something he could praise him for; it was easy too, he had barely sat down at his desk when Tobirama knocked and slipped in to hand Madara some paperwork. The Uchiha hummed and kept a close eye on Tobirama when he said “Thank you Senju” and there it was, that shocked stutter and wide eyed look- not as dramatically as before, so, thanks wasn’t as good as full on praise- the faint hesitation before the younger man nodded jerkily and darted out of the room a little faster than he had entered; at his desk Madara couldn’t decide if he wanted to smirk at discombobulating the composed man or frown at how easy it was to unsettle him.
The next chance came right after lunch as he passed Tobirama on his way out of Hashirama’s office (why did Tobirama never join them at lunch anyway?) and saw the plans for the layout of shinobi ranks (which was very complicated with all the problems with clan loyalty conflicting with village loyalty – after all what Hyuuga would want to put their shinobi under an Uchiha just because they were higher rank) that all of them had been working so hard on, Tobirama more than anyone else “Your changes to that are really good Senju” he said gruffly, doing his best to make it sound like a through-away comment and damn there was that reaction again; Tobirama froze and flushed and his lovely red eyes went wide as his steps stuttered (fuck but that was cute). Madara forced himself not to react and just keep going though he didn’t hear Tobirama’s steps resume until Madara was halfway down the hallway.
Over the next week Madara continued his plan, trying to pace it so that is wasn’t too often and keep it small and light so that Tobirama wasn’t overwhelmed (“good job with the Nara” adorable red eyes going wide “You don’t like the Hyuuga? Why?” not praise but Tobirama reacted in a similar way “Thanks for the dossier Senju, it helps” leaving Tobirama blinking after him) and it turned out that planning for the albino getting overwhelmed was a good idea because by the end of the week Tobirama was watching him warily and finally on Friday afternoon he knocked on Madara’s door, entering the office before Madara had a chance to call out; he looked tired and frazzled, more confused and upset than Madara had ever seen him (it made something in his gut churn unpleasantly, what the hell? What did he care) as he stocked to the desk and slammed his hands down on the sturdy wood “What do you want Uchiha?” huh, Tobirama hadn’t called him that since the Tower was built, using ‘Madara-sama’ instead. “I don’t know what you mean” he said slowly and the Senju flushed deeper in anger (it wasn’t as pretty as his blush) snarling with clear anger (only…there was something under the anger, hurt?) “Yes you do” he hissed “you’ve been being nice to me, you’re complimenting me, are you mocking me?” oh. oh shit, now he really did look hurt, really hurt, wounded and now, well, now Madara felt awful about that (…since when did he care) especially since the idea that someone saying good things about his work was so surprising that Tobirama thought there was something else going on.
Madara cleared his throat and looked away for a moment, trying to figure out how to give an answer that the albino would believe “I – don’t want anything.” Tobirama looked deeply disbelieving “really, honestly Tobirama, I’m not mocking you or anything. You do good work” Tobirama looked confused, thrown off enough by Madara’s use of his name that the anger faded into looking flustered again (Madara’s favorite blush was back). “I-“ the Senju started and Madara reached out and touched the back of his hand making the other man instantly stutter to a stop (wait, that was – that shock and shiver was, what was going on here?) which Madara took advantage of “I promise you that I’m not mocking you” (and the fact that that was where his mind had jumped was…infuriating, had that happened to him before?). Tobirama stared at him for a long moment, eyes wide and confused and trusting? Sort of? (what had Madara done to earn that?) the albino drew back, pulling his hand out from under Madara’s with clear reluctance, his eyes soft and wounded but something bright glinting far, far, back in red eyes “Oh. I – I don’t, um, you – why” he was stuttering, (Madara didn’t know how to deal with this) “I –“ he searched for words for another second before ducking his head and vanishing from Madara’s office too fast for the Uchiha to track.
Frustrated and…concerned (maybe, maybe) Madara leaned back in his chair and folding his arms; he wasn’t going to stop what he had been doing, especially now, he would have to be careful and make sure that he didn’t overwhelm Tobirama again but also make sure that the albino didn’t think he was stopping as at this point that would hurt even worse Madara was sure. Damn it. he hadn’t gone into this intending to start something he would have to do long term!