Kindling

Hikaku watched as Madara spoke to Tobirama in a soft voice so unlike his normal explosive volume, shocked when the stern Senju actually smiled a little and relaxed agiasnt the door frame and tipping into Madara’s space; had he really been gone long enough for something to have changed this much? Izuna snorted next to him and the Uchiha jumped at the sudden appearance of the clan heir at his side “Huh?” Hikaku said dumbly and Izuna rolled his eyes “Yeah, that’s a thing now” the Uchiha heir said and Hikaku couldn’t get his mouth to close “Where’s the yelling?!” he breathed. Izuna snorted again “Yeah, Madara hasn’t yelled at him in weeks, as soon as he stopped Tobirama started doing that” the other man snarked and Hikaku couldn’t quite drag his eyes away from the scene at the door “Huh?”

Hashirama hummed softly and didn’t look up from his papers at Madara where the Uchiha stood over him, still fuming “Tobi hates people yelling at him, it reminds him of – bad things” Hashirama’s wince wasn’t covered nearly well enough to hide the fact that there was a longer story there “if you want him to listen to you try talking to him separately and notyelling” Madara snorted and spun out of the office in a huff, so much for Hashirama being helpful pulling the stick out of his brother’s ass!

Two days later Madara was frazzled enough to take Hashirama’s advice even if he didn’t want to; he was tired of arguing with Tobirama at meeting and never getting anywhere with his points after the Senju threw his walls up and if talking to the ass before the meeting this afternoon- an important one- and keeping his voice down was what needed to happen he would do it damn it! Madara blew out a slow breath and gathered his composure together as firmly as he could before knocking and letting himself in before Tobirama had a chance to speak “What Uchiha” the albino bastard asked icily, eyes sharp on Madara’s face and the Uchiha bit back his already rising temper “I need to talk to you about the meeting today, the one about clan celebrations” he said in a studiously even voice; Tobirama blinked and his eyes narrowed but he nodded slowly and waited for Madara to say more (deep breaths, deep breaths). But by the time he had finished his explanation about what he wanted to talk about and why it mattered (he couldn’t let his clans precious celebrations vanish into the village, it would ruin them to lose their cultural identity, they needed it to control their eyes) carefully keeping his voice even and low (don’t yell, don’t yell) the lines on the albino’s face had eased, the sharp anger in his eyes fading with the aggression as he listened. Madara finished his piece in a little bit of shock as Tobirama hummed softly and frowned- not from anger as far as Madara could tell- but there was none of the usual fight Madara had expected, had it really only taken not yelling to have Tobirama’s attention?

The rest of the conversation went by in a bit of a daze as they talked in completely even voices and actually worked through problems and Madara walked out of the pale Senju’s office in daze; wandering into Hashirama’s office and flopping down in the other man’s guest chair “Madara?” Hashirama asked from far away “You were right” Madara said hazily “how was it that easy?” Hashirama’s mouth opened and shut a few times “Uh…” “All it took was not yelling, how was it that easy?” Madara blurted out and Hashirama blinked and then laughed “Oh! you talked to Tobi then. He does like you Madara, I told you so! just as soon as he didn’t start thinking about father when you yelled at him I knew it wouldn’t be so bad!” (Madara…was not going to think about the tidbit about their father, at least not right now). What made it all worse was that the meeting did go well, Tobirama even speaking up on Madara’s side at one point (when Madara sent him a grateful look he looked shocked and then flushed a little as he looked down, clearly Madara needed to do this more, it was so much better than before) and quietly inserting points that Madara- forcing himself not to yell at Tobirama though he didn’t bother not to with others- could push back against and use to make his point more effectively. It was….well it was more then worth the effort of keeping his temper.

Ania felt her lips pull back a little in distaste at the sight of the stern looking younger Senju brother, she had yet to see him unbend even a little and it was – oh, wait, Madara-sama was coming down the street. This should be good, as far as she could tell Madara yelled at everyone- he had even raised his voice at her party though only briefly and she hadn’t bothered to be upset when it was so clearly just his default to be…shouty. She quite liked it actually. Ania sat up a little straighter, excited to see the confrontation between the men and maybe even see the cold Senju taken down a peg (Ania disliked people that lied about their emotions, disliked them deeply). The Uchiha ran into the Senju close enough that she couldn’t quiet hear them- not that she had expected that to be a problem with the volume Madara-sama could reach- and then – and then nothing happened. Well, no, that wasn’t quite right, Tobirama’s stance eased and the tight lines of his face softened as he listened to the Uchiha speak in a soft low voice. Why wasn’t Madara-sama yelling? Madara-sama yelled at everyone “Ania-hime?” the Uchiha with her asked- Ania didn’t remember her name- and the ambassador answered without turning away form the scene in front of her “Why isn’t he yelling? He yells at everyone?” she spluttered. The Uchiha laughed “Oh no, the only person the Madara-sama never yells at is the white Senju” the other woman said firmly and Ania could quite tear her eyes away from the sight of Madara speaking softly and Tobirama’s face gone gentle and easy “They’re together then?” she asked- honestly a little disappointed- but the Uchiha rolled her eyes “Not yet, though everyone would like it if they did and got it over with” and disappointed or not Ania couldn’t help but agree, the tension (or, um, lack of it, more like aura of warm fuzzy magnetism) around them palpable even from where the two women were sitting.

Madara felt his lips tip up in a smile when he saw the younger man enter his office, already adjusting his voice to speak softer- as he always did for his (not his, not yet anyway) Senju- “Tobirama, what can I do for you?” the younger man smiled a little, that tiny half smile Madara adored “Nothing urgent I just –“ he hesitated and the smile fell away leaving something tired and a little lost on his face that made Madara’s back to tight and his voice drop deeper and softer (his alternative to when he really wanted to yell) “Tobirama?” the Senju shivered a little and his fingers twisted together hard enough to make Madara’s stomach go tight (he hated it when Tobirama did that to himself, couldn’t help but wonder if the way that Tobirama hurt himself when he was upset was related to the yelling thing). Madara stood and walked around the desk, snagging Tobirama’s wrist and pulling the younger man to sit next to him on the large sofa shoved against the wall; it took a few tugs to pull Tobirama down to sit next to him and Madara gave up on keeping himself from pulling the albino’s hands apart, cupping long fingered hands to keep his friend (hopefully more as soon as Madara could get up the balls to say something) from hurting himself more “Tobirama what’s wrong?” the Senju shifted uncomfortably and then drew in a sharp breath “Hashirama told you to stop yelling if you wanted me to listen didn’t he?” Madara froze, not totally sure how to answer but Tobirama went on before he could “I – did he tell you why?” Madara shook his head silently and Tobirama shivered as the Uchiha tightened his hold on the elegant hands in his hold “I – father – it” Tobirama was visibly struggling for words and Madara reached up to cup his cheek, shifting the albino’s hands in his hold but not letting go.

“You don’t have to tell me” he murmured and Tobirama sent him an uncertain glance “you don’t, really, it’s ok. If me shouting makes you uncomfortable than I won’t, I –“ he hesitated “you matter to me, I don’t mind. Besides” he added with a smile “I rarely feel the need to shout at you anymore” Tobirama flushed again and looked down, turning his face into Madara’s hand and sending a shiver through the Uchiha as he gathered his courage; “I – may I kiss you?” he asked husky and low and Tobirama’s eyes few open and wide before he nodded with a faint blush. (yes, Madara decided, he was very, very glad he had asked Hashirama for advice)