Sunrises, Kidnappings, and Philosophy
By Katrina Proctor
He woke up to the sound of the alarm and fur up his nose. After he shoved the cat off his face, Goku slammed the snooze button on his clock.
A few minutes passed before it slowly seeped into his brain that Sanzo was already up. Not that it was unusual for his lover to get out of bed first. Why did he have to fall for a morning person? Goku was much more content to let noon pass by before he rose, and the only sunrises he wanted to see were the ones he stayed up all night for.
Of course, Sanzo could stay up for the same sunrise and still make it out of bed before Goku. Stupid insomnia. Goku liked to cuddle against Sanzo, but it was rather difficult to do that when the man was never in bed.
Nine minutes of peace passed, and Goku enjoyed every second of his soft, very comfortable bed. Then the quiet was shattered by the alarm going off again.
Grumbling, Goku pushed himself out of his nest. The cat took the opportunity to usurp the warm spot, purring quite happily as it looked at Goku with amber eyes.
"Sanzo will gut you if he catches you getting fur all over the sheets again," he told the clearly unimpressed animal. As he gathered up his clothes, the brunette wondered exactly how that spoiled ball of fur managed to rank lower than him on the cycle of reincarnation. Seemed like one of those dream lives. If he ever got the chance, Goku decided, he was going to come back as someone's pampered house pet.
A shower did make him feel a little more normal. The water washed over him, warming muscles that had been stretched into some odd positions the night before. Sadly, it hadn't been anything interesting that had put him in that odd position. Goku just slept in weird ways, and more often than not woke up with some body part numb.
Reluctant to leave the steam-filled room, Goku finally forced himself to once again start moving. Following his nose down the hall, he wondered why he was doing this. It wasn't like they needed the money. Wise investments and the conservative way they live meant that he didn't have to. Plus he and Sanzo were both independently wealthy.
So why did he torture himself by going to a job he was starting to really starting to dislike? At Wal-Mart of all places. Why didn't he take classes like Sanzo did? It wasn't like he didn't like to learn, he enjoyed the few classes Sanzo had convinced him to take. So why didn't he do that instead of getting up early to go work wherever they felt like sticking him that day? The only reason he could think of was that he was bored.
Then he tripped over the cat.
Loud curses colored the air as Goku stumbled. They grew even louder when he stubbed his toe against the wall.
"Goddamn little motherfucker! Ow! I'm going to shoot you, you damn hairball."
The cat, once again, looked unimpressed.
"You are not going to shoot the cat," came a voice from the kitchen. "Fur will get everywhere, and I sneeze enough with the stupid thing just living with us. If you want to kill it, give it to Gojyo. That idiot can't take care of himself, let alone anything else."
Still mumbling nasty words at the cat, Goku hobbled his way into the kitchen. He paused on the way to the stove to brush a kiss on the back of Sanzo's neck. Then he continued towards the food.
One he had a plate of eggs and bacon, Goku sat across from Sanzo. "Cat wouldn't die at Gojyo's" he pointed out after he finished half the plate. "Hakkai or Yaone would take care of it." A pause as he polished off the rest of the food. "I still don't know how that cockroach managed to get Hakkai -and- Yaone?"
"I don't want to," Sanzo said, reading the paper. Next to him was a neat pile of the sections he had already finished. Goku grinned and nodded before he took a drink of juice.
Then the newspaper sections that had been sitting on the table bounced off his skull.
"Ow!"
"Stupid monkey! Don't drink out of the carton. It spreads germs."
"But you sleep with me! You already have my germs!"
"Hakkai and the others don't. And they do visit from time to time."
Goku tried to match Sanzo glare for glare. It was a lost cause, though, and he knew it. Once again muttering under his breath, this time about bossy blonds, Goku got a glass from the cabinet and poured some juice in it.
Breakfast was relatively quiet from that point on. Goku finished off the rest of the food on the stove, while Sanzo calmly worked his way though a pack of cigarettes. It was a nasty habit, but it was something Goku never could break Sanzo over.
As he worked on another way to attempt the weaning of Sanzo off tobacco, Goku glanced at the clock. With a yelp, he shot out of his chair. Stealing a quick kiss from Sanzo, Goku ran out the door.
The front door slammed shut, and Sanzo sipped his coffee. He had given up trying to teach the monkey to close the door quietly. "Ch," he sighed with a shake of his head.
"Idiot."
///
Somewhere, Goku was sure of it, there was a being whose sole purpose was to drive him mad. Why else would he fall in love with the most stubborn man on earth, have a spoiled cat that refused to sleep anywhere but the bed, and work at Wal-Mart?
His day, to put it mildly, had sucked major ass.
Sanzo's first indication of how Goku's day had gone was when the boy basically did a controlled collapse on the couch Sanzo was sitting on. There was an almost bemused expression on the blond's face as a head landed in his lap. Tired eyes looked up at Sanzo, and the older man could see the stress lines around them.
"I hate people."
A blond brow arched, and Sanzo lifted one hand and began to massage Goku's scalp. The other arm was draped across the smaller man's stomach, and Goku intertwined his fingers with Sanzo's.
Almost purring under the touch, Goku continued. "They're evil, sadistic bastards. All of them. One woman pitched a screaming fit when the Service Desk refused to let her return a CD that had been opened and the words 'This Sucks' scratched on the disc. And then I got stuck in charge of the clearance wall." Wide eyes held a frightened expression, and Sanzo felt the urge to shoot something.
"Those people swarmed the instant someone announced that the wall was there." Goku paused. "Remember those old Biblical movies, when the plague of locusts eat everything? Those are Wal-Mart customers at the sight of clearance."
Goku shivered and wiggled closer to Sanzo. "I just don't like people."
Normally, Sanzo would have smirked. That line was highly unusual coming from Goku. Of their group of friends, Goku had to be the most people- oriented. It was Sanzo who hated people. For Goku to say what he just had meant one of two things. Either he had been with Sanzo too long, or the job was really that horrible.
Sanzo didn't think that the former was the problem. Otherwise he wouldn't have a lapful of Goku. He could feel how tense Goku was, though, and heard the real irritation in the other's voice.
So, instead of smirking, Sanzo frowned. Nobody treated his monkey like that.
Slowly, Goku relaxed and began to doze off, never realizing that Sanzo was starting to plot.
///
There was a soft sigh from Goku as he was set down on the bed. Sanzo had come home from class to find him asleep on the couch. Rather than listen the complaints of sore muscles he would be sure to hear if he let Goku stay there all night, Sanzo had carried the boy to bed.
Sanzo admitted to himself something he would never let another soul know. He was spoiled. He and Goku had been living together since Goku was eight. Even though he had been only thirteen years old himself, he had realized there was something special about the chocolate-haired boy, and he enjoyed the fact that Goku felt the same about him. Goku had been the first person he had let himself care for, and their lives had been good.
But now he barely got to see the boy. Nor was he the only one. Hakkai had stopped by the other day and commented on how he hadn't seen Goku in a few months.
As he looked down at Goku, Sanzo admitted he was unhappy with the situation. He wanted to see more of Goku than just when the boy slept at night and before he went to work. And Sanzo wasn't so selfish that he was going to grudge Goku his sleep.
He knew that Goku had been bored. That's why he took the job in the first place. But now it was just wearing him down. He did some of everything, and while Sanzo admitted that Goku did bring home a lot of money, he also knew they didn't need it. And all it did anymore was take up Goku's time and energy.
All of this had gone through Sanzo's mind as he absently watched Goku sprawl out on their bed. Goku sighed again, drawing the older man's attention and Sanzo smile softly as he heard his name. Taking a minute to grab his laptop, he slid into bed, his decision made.
Time to be the selfish bastard everyone knew he could be.
///
Something was off.
Slowly, Goku opened his eyes, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with the situation. He sneezed fur out of his nose, and realized that his face was not covered by the cat. But he was still really warm. That's when it dawned on him that the sun was shining on his face. That meant something, but his sleep-sated brain could not quite grasp what.
Then it hit him.
With a yelp, he rolled out of bed. He was really, really late for work.
Goku darted out of the room, only to be scooped up into a fireman's hold. Suddenly draped over a hard shoulder, Goku was silent as he gasped for air. He knew exactly who had him, but he wasn't sure why.
"San-zo," he whined when he was able to breathe again. "What are you doing?" He tried to wiggle, only to receive a swat on the only place Sanzo could reach.
"HEY!"
"Don't wiggle. You don't have the brains to spare if I drop you on that thick skull of yours."
Goku couldn't see it, but he knew that Sanzo was smirking.
"Bastard. What the hell are you doing?"
"We're going on a trip."
"But I have to work."
"Called you in dead."
"WHAT?!"
He could not have heard that right.
"Dead. Called you in dead. Should be simple enough for your monkey brain to handle."
Goku had no response to that. He hated being draped over Sanzo's shoulder like this, though. The man he was going to strangle was walking, and that had a weird effect on Goku's stomach. It was rather uncomfortable to feel himself rocking like he was. It seemed like he was going to fall any second, though he knew Sanzo would never drop him.
A flash of green caught his eye, and Goku turned his head to see Hakkai standing nearby, the cat in his arms.
"Hakkai! You've got to save me. Sanzo's gone nuts."
"Have fun on your trip, Goku. Don't worry; I'll take care of the house." Hakkai smiled at Goku's scowl. After being forced to listen to Sanzo rant about how Goku was never around, Hakkai felt he deserved to torment the brunette. Besides, it would do the pair good to get out of the house.
Of course, he had just arrived barely an hour ago. It appeared Sanzo had not expected Goku to sleep as long as he had. Else Hakkai might not have gotten the message he had on the answering machine. A surprise to be sure. It wasn't everyday one got a message that, er, blunt. Especially from Sanzo. Gojyo had laughed his ass off, and Yaone had tittered when Hakkai had played it for them. "Not dead. Watch the house. Going to find someplace nice to shag Goku back to normal."
Definitely not the normal phone message.
So, after he had stopped laughing, he had headed for the house Sanzo and Goku shared. Only to find the pair still there.
Now he watched as Sanzo was quite calmly carrying Goku towards the door. It was clear that the squabbling was nothing more than play fighting, but it was still interesting to watch.
"San~zo. I'm hungry. At least let me get something to eat before you take me to the middle of nowhere, you hard-nosed jackass."
"What makes you think I'm going to feed anyone who calls me a jackass?" Though Hakkai noticed that Sanzo did walk to the kitchen long enough for Goku to snag a bowl of fruit and bagels off the table. In his arms, the cat meowed.
Looking at the calico in his arms, Hakkai smiled. "That's right, Mi-ke. You'll be staying with me for a while."
"Her name's Tama," yelled Goku, who was still over Sanzo's shoulder. He glared at Hakkai from his upside down position.
"Every damn time we get a cat, you guys argue over the name," growled Sanzo, who then sneezed. "And I just sneeze a lot. Why don't we get a dog?"
"Because you're too much like a cat to deal with a noisy, smelly dog," Goku answered around a mouthful of bagel.
"I deal with you, don't I?"
"I'm not smelly," was the indignant reply.
And that was the last Hakkai saw of his friends. He waited until he heard the sound of the car leaving before putting the cat down. "They are going to drive each other insane," he said to the animal as he made his way towards the kitchen. "And they're going to love every second of it."
///
Somehow, they had managed to get to the car without Goku either falling on his head or dropping his food. That was a minor miracle in itself, since Goku kept trying to see what was going on.
Under him, Sanzo shifted, and Goku heard the click of a car door opening. Then his view changed as he was carefully dumped onto the backseat. Above him, Sanzo smirked, then started to pull away.
Goku snagged Sanzo's shirt, keeping the man from moving. "What's going on, Sanzo? Where are we going?"
For a moment, Goku saw all the emotions Sanzo never verbalized. Love, concern, and something he couldn't identify flashed across those violet eyes. Then they were gone. Goku's thoughts quickly followed as Sanzo pressed a hard kiss against his lips.
"Bakasaru," purred the blond as he pulled away, shirt slipping through Goku's suddenly lax fingers. The familiar insult made Goku grin inside even as he glared at Sanzo. He had not heard that phrase since they had moved to America. Not that Sanzo didn't use the English equivalent, but the original term was an in-joke in their group of friends. And between Goku and Sanzo, it was a pet name. Sanzo's version of 'dear.'
It was obvious to Goku that Sanzo wasn't going to explain anything. And since the only thing that -might- make Sanzo do something he didn't want to was a life or death situations, Goku resigned himself to not knowing yet.
So he laid in the backseat and finished off both bagels and fruit as Sanzo got the little kidnapping/road trip underway. Dropping the last apple core into the bowl and licking the sticky juice from his fingers, Goku looked out the window. Unfortunately, they lived far enough from the city that all he saw was a pale blue sky, broken by only the occasional tree. For some reason, the sight sent a shiver up his back, so Goku turned his attention to inside the car.
A little bit passed, and Goku grumbled to himself. There wasn't anything really interesting to look at while he was laying down in the backseat. And he was bored.
When the shimmer of light hitting Sanzo's hair caught his attention, Goku grinned impishly. Time to entertain himself.
Sanzo's hair, normally caught up in a tight braid, was only pulled into a loose ponytail that trailed down the back of the seat. It was long enough that it pooled on the floor, and the vibrations of the vehicle made the whole length dance back and forth slightly.
Cat-like, Goku gently batted at the long tail. The strands were warm and smooth against his fingers, and Goku's grin grew into a true smile. It made him think someone had spun thread from sunlight every time he touched that golden hair, a concept that amused Sanzo to no end when told.
The first few playful tugs were ignored, and Goku snickered to himself. He knew exactly how much pressure it would take to rip hair from the scalp, and as long a he stayed below that, he might get away with this for a while.
That's when the rubber band bounced off his skull.
"OW!"
Sitting up, Goku saw Sanzo slide that stupid rubber band gun into his pocket. "Stupid monkey. How many times have I told you to not pull my hair?"
Ignoring the question, Goku clambered over the seat to sit next to Sanzo. A moment passed as he got settled and fastened his seatbelt, then he looked around.
It took a little bit of driving, but the brunette finally recognized enough landmarks to realize they were heading south. Racking his mind, Goku slowly figured out that he had no idea where they might be going. Instead of asking again, he decided to dig through the CD collection. No point in getting hit by that stupid gun again.
Finally grabbing the Boondock Saints disc Sanzo had just bought, Goku slid it into the player. Even if he didn't know what was going on, he knew Sanzo would have a plan. So he was just going to enjoy this. Leaning back, he let the music wash over him and his eyes slid shut as the sun warmed his skin.
///
The sound of a soft snore slowly caught Sanzo's attention, and he glanced over to see Goku dozing. Sunlight streamed in that side of the car, and Goku was sprawled out under it. How the boy managed to go that flat without sliding out of the seat, Sanzo had no idea.
The sunlight brought out amber highlights in the chocolate hair, and added a healthy color to Goku's cheeks. The effect made Goku look much younger, and Sanzo suddenly felt as if he was committing a crime by sleeping with the boy. The term jailbait was very clear in his mind. Even if he did know how old Goku really was.
This trip was doing some good already if Goku had relaxed that much. Though if Sanzo wrecked because he was watching Goku instead of the road, Goku would tense up again. And they did need supplies. Sanzo hadn't packed a thing, just Goku and himself. That had come from the idea of not taking anything to remind Goku of work. So as he drove down the road, Sanzo began looking for decent places to shop.
///
He had just sat down at an endless table of food when something poked him in the side. Hard.
The smell of smoke drifted over him as Goku slowly woke up. He yawned, stretched, then blinked sleepily at Sanzo. "I'm hungry, Sanzo."
Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Someday you're going to have to stop eating your own weight in food. What will you do then?"
A smile was flashed his direction. "Probably eat some more."
There was a sigh from Sanzo, though Goku did catch a tiny bit of smirk crossing Sanzo's face. Then the blond nodded towards a large building behind him. "Come on," he sighed. "I'll buy you some food. We have to restock anyway."
"Well, if you hadn't carried me out of the house, maybe we'd have supplies," Goku groused as he looked around the car. "Tell me you at least brought some shoes." A pair of sandals landed on his lap. Eyeing the bright purple things with disgust, Goku slid them on.
"Why the hell do you have purple sandals in your car? Neon purple sandals, at that."
A shrug, then Sanzo gave a real answer. "I think Yaone left them last time we all went out in my car. Remember, Gojyo carried her into their house."
Goku closed one eyes. "Don't want to remember. I know way too much about that ero kappa's sex life." He eyes the sandals again. "But, still, purple? You are so going to pay for this later, Sanzo."
"Really?" Something in Sanzo's expression made Goku blush.
However, two could play at that game.
Goku slithered out of the car, and then stretched. He could feel the cool breeze on his stomach as the movement made his shirt rise up. Then the brunette slowly arched backwards, far enough that he could touch the back of his knees. The plain white shirt he wore to sleep in slid up about his shoulders and Goku caught the faintest hint of sound from Sanzo. His lover had just audibly gulped.
At the noise, Goku just as slowly pulled out of the stretch. He smiled brightly at Sanzo as he straightened his shirt. "Come on, Sanzo. I can smell food."
Cheerfully dodging the notebook Sanzo had pulled from a pocket and swung at him, Goku ran towards the mall entrance, laughing.
///
That little pit stop had been expensive, but worth every cent. Goku had bounced from store to store, including every concession stand at least twice, eyeing everything. He had managed to assemble a complete new wardrobe, including some clothing for Sanzo. The happy expression on his face was the only thing that kept Sanzo from following his urge to strangle everything in the store. That and the fact that Goku modeled a lot of things that Sanzo would never let him leave the house in.
Including a pair of leather pants.
Shaking himself out of his leather pant induced daze, Sanzo sat back in his seat as Goku finished off yet another slice of pizza. So far, the other man had been remarkable quite about the trip. Mostly it was because he had spent a good portion of it asleep, but Sanzo was fairly sure that the respite wouldn't last long. Goku was far too curious to let anything like this alone long. Mostly likely the only reason he hadn't asked yet was because this was a dream shopping trip. Anything he wanted, and Sanzo was paying for it all.
"Sanzo?"
Returning from his own thoughts, Sanzo looked at Goku. Serious gold-brown eyes looked back.
"Yes?"
"Did it really bother you that much that I worked?"
A pause, as the bustle of mall traffic seemed to fade away.
"In a way. Mostly because it bothered you so much, and that made you irritate the hell out of me."
Now there was confusion on Goku's face. "But it didn't really bother me.... I don't think it did, anyway."
Sanzo reached forward and snagged a piece of pepperoni off Goku's pizza. He ate that slowly, wondering if Goku would figure it out for himself.
And it was very clear that the Goku was thinking about what Sanzo had just said.
"It was kinda fun at first. I got to see all these different people, and I got to learn all sorts of new things. It was interesting. I was really, really bored at home, and I got to make new friends. But...." His voice faded out.
"You got quiet, Goku. And not just now." Sanzo stole another pepperoni. When Goku didn't react, he knew that the monkey was still thinking hard. "You were all talkative about it, at first. Then after a few months passed, you stopped talking about it. I expected you to quit, but you didn't. And then you started to sound more like me than was healthy."
"Yah, grumpy people shouldn't live together." The insult was more automatic than anything, and Sanzo could clearly see that Goku hadn't even realized what he had said. But he still stole another slice of pepperoni. One shouldn't let things like that go unpunished.
Finally, after Sanzo had stolen every piece of meat off his pizza, Goku spoke once more. "I was just so bored. And then it was like I couldn't leave." A pause. "And you're already doing the school thing, so I didn't want to step on your territory."
"Ch. Idiot. I don't own the school." Now Sanzo watched as Goku fidgeted with his pizza, not really seeing it. "Even if I didn't want to be in the same classes as you, there is a variety. We could actually both go to school and never see each other." A sharp look of surprise crossed Goku's face. Sanzo wasn't sure if it was from the fact that they could take separate classes, or if it was the fact he had mentioned it.
"Or we could take the same classes. It doesn't matter. I go to class to learn different things. Because I'd go insane if I stayed home all the time." Sanzo took a sip of his soda. "I don't expect you to stay home all the time, either. I'm neither your keeper nor your owner. We all have free will, and it's our own responsibility to live life as we see fit. But I'm not going to watch you burn yourself out because of some misplaced sense of territory."
The words seemed to register with Goku, and he absently took a bite of pizza. A second later, and he seemed to return to reality. "HEY! You ate all the topping off my pizza!"
Sanzo smirked and sipped his soda again.
///
"Sheep."
The glass was cool against his face, Goku noticed as he began to fidget. The drive had been rather long, and he had gotten bored again. So he decided to entertain himself. Again. And at the moment, he was playing the farm animal game. It was harder than expected, since the only things lighting their surroundings were the headlights of the car and the full moon overhead. Still, it was enough.
"Horse, horse, horse, goat, horse."
Goku could actually feel Sanzo twitch every time he called out an animal. It didn't help that when they passed groups he would call out every animal he could see. He knew that if he turned around, he would actually be able to see a vein throb on Sanzo's forehead.
"Horse."
Of course, if he saw how twitchy he was making Sanzo, he might feel the urge to stop. And since the farm animal game was the only thing keeping him from screaming bloody murder, he was determined to not look at Sanzo.
Then a large field, full of sheep, came into view, and he took a deep breath.
"NO! No! No! No!"
Each 'no' was accompanied by a smack of the notebook. How the hell Sanzo had managed to get it out and smack Goku with it, while not going off the road, was a source of constant mystery for Goku. Well, it would have been if he wasn't so busy trying to save his head.
"Damn it, stop. Ow! Okay, Okay, I'll quit. Mean old man."
Sanzo didn't respond to the taunt, he only placed the notebook back in his pocket and muttered to himself.
"What was that? I can't understand you." Goku decided that if he couldn't play one game, he'd play another. Mainly it would be to annoy Sanzo. A fun game, even if it meant lots of smacks with that stupid notebook.
"I said," Sanzo snapped, clearly enunciating his words with a clipped tone. "That you'd think I would learn to lock you in the trunk on long car trips."
"It was your idea to go on this road trip from hell in the first place. Don't forget that. The first one was your fault, too."
"Ch. At least I'm not responsible for the great Meatbun Search. How many hours did we spend looking for the restaurant?"
Since he couldn't easily defend anything that did take that long to accomplish, Goku just stuck his tongue out.
"I can find a use for that, Goku. And this is neither the time nor place."
Goku could once again feel the warmth of a blush cover his face. Damn. How could the man do that? Instead of coming up with a retort, he looked out the window. Bright light had caught his attention. "Hey, an IHOP sign. Let's stop there."
There was a loud sigh from the blond. But he didn't immediately say no, so there was still hope. "Please, Sanzo. It's only a few miles away. We can stop there. It's got to be open, and at this time of night, it's the only place open. Ple~ase?"
More grumblings, but Goku saw Sanzo take a quick glimpse at the sign. He was going to get food. Happy times.
Ten minutes later, they were at the IHOP, and Goku ordered half the menu. Literally. He couldn't help it. Sanzo had given his typical warning about not ordering everything off the left side of the menu, so Goku had ordered everything on the right, just to irritate the other man. And it had almost worked. He could see Sanzo's hand twitch for the pocket holding the notebook, but then the blond stopped. Instead, he had placed his own order, then stared out the window. The whole situation was becoming extremely fishy, and Goku really wondered what was going on.
"Where we going?"
Oops. He hadn't meant to ask. Not yet. Still, after their more serious talk last time they had eaten, he was ready to find out exactly what was going on. Of course, he didn't really expect an answer.
"Where do you want to go?"
Goku could actually hear himself blink. Loudly blink. That hadn't happened for a while.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Simple question, monkey. Where. Do. You. Want. To. Go?"
There was a pause in the conversation as the waitress brought over their food. Several trips worth of food. Goku quickly dug in, pondering this unusual turn of events. Sanzo never asked where they were going. He always told. He always had a plan. It stunned Goku that this one simple question from Sanzo had thrown him for such a loop.
"The beach."
Sanzo, long finished with his pancakes, stared out the window once more, playing with a pack of cigarettes. He hadn't lit one up, and it dawned on Goku that Sanzo hadn't smoked a single one since they had left home. So there was hope of breaking him of that habit.
"Any particular beach?"
"No. Not really. I just like the beach. One with real waves, maybe."
Long fingers flipped the pack around. "Not that hard. Should be fairly easy to find something to order."
This was getting too weird for Goku. He finished his food, then stood. Stretching again caused his back to pop, and a loud yawn suddenly erupted from him.
As if he had been waiting for that, Sanzo slid out of the booth and shooed Goku towards the car. "Go back to sleep. You're less annoying that way."
Goku did as he was asked, but not before flipping Sanzo off. Then he dozed off once more, the hum of tires on road and the soft mummer of music filling his ears
///
"Wake up."
The soft voice was emphasized by the gentle shaking, and Goku dragged himself from the deep doze he had been enjoying. He yawned, jaw popping, and then looked at Sanzo with bleary eyes. A light touch brushed his cheek, and Goku noticed that Sanzo had let his hair down. The edge of it was what had tickled Goku's face.
"Come on, Goku. You need to get out of the car for this."
Goku let himself be pulled from the vehicle. It only took a moment for the saltiness of the air and the roar of waves to make themselves known, and gold eyes grew large as they took in the expanse of beach that was laid out before them. Goku blinked, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked again, then smiled.
The water was the blackish color of night, but at the place sky and water met, there was a glimmer of color. It seemed to spread, slowly, crawling out to cover more of the shimmering waves.
Sunrise.
Sanzo tugged Goku to the back of the car. The blond man sat down and leaned against the bumper. Goku followed. Resting between Sanzo's legs, he leaned back against the other man, eyes fixed on the dance of colors that seemed to bleed over the area. The effect that happened when those colors caught the waves was amazing. Everything seemed to be changing so fast, but it also had that rare timeless quality that only the most beautiful of things can achieve.
Goku felt Sanzo's arms tight around him, and then the soft warmth of his breath against Goku's ear. "Does this meet the 'beach' requirement?"
Before Goku could even think to respond, there was a bright flash. A second later, before he had a chance to blink the dazzle from his eyes, there was another flash. He heard Sanzo snarl, but Goku only blinked away the spots in his eyes and wrapped his hands around Sanzo's.
"Just a minute, Sanzo," he murmured. "Beat them up later. Just us, okay."
The arms around him tightened once more. "Just us, bakasaru." And Goku felt Sanzo's chin resting on his shoulder as the sun rose over the water. The light danced over the water, growing steadily brighter. The colors of the sunrise began to fade, replaced by the deepest blue Goku had ever seen. As he watched the sun grow too bright to look at, Goku had something dropped in his lap. Looking up, he saw a young woman walking down the beach, a camera in her hand. He glanced at what she had dropped, then smiled.
"Look, Sanzo."
Sanzo reached over Goku's shoulder to pick up the picture. It was the pair of them, leaning against the car. Their expressions were ones of peace and happiness. The pale gold and red of sunrise painted their skins. It glittered off the loose cloak of Sanzo's hair, and the matching earrings the lovers wore.
On the bottom of the picture were a few lines of poetry.
"I am in this world to offer you peace; You are in this world to bring me joy."
"What...?" Goku looked once more after the girl, but she was out of speaking range.
"It's a quote."
Now Goku twisted to look at Sanzo. His questioning look was enough to prompt a more thorough response.
"It is part of a poem called Interrelationship, by Dhyana Master Thich Nhat Hanh. A Buddhist monk from Vietnam."
"Do you know the rest?" Goku asked as he looked at the two lines again. For a moment, the only sounds were the calls of the gulls wheeling overhead and the sound of the waves crashing against the sand. Then Sanzo began to speak softly, barely whispering above the sounds of the water.
"You are me, and I am you Isn't it obvious that we 'inter-are'? You cultivate the flower in yourself So that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself, So you will not have to suffer.
I support you, You support me. I am in this world to offer you peace, You are in this world to bring me joy."
Goku squeezed Sanzo's fingers, which were still trapped in his, as his way of saying thanks. Then he turned his head just enough so that he could see the other's expression.
"A Buddhist wrote that? Are you sure?" Goku's tone was full of doubt.
Sanzo glared at him. "Of course I'm sure. Why?"
Goku grinned back. "Because the only Buddhist I know is you, and you're an antisocial, violent bastard."
With a quick twist of his wrists, Sanzo freed his hands. His fingers unerringly found the ticklish spots on Goku's ribs and pressed against them. "Oi, Goku."
Already trying to move away from those evil fingers, Goku sniggered out something that sounded like a response. Even if it wasn't, Sanzo continued on.
"Happy birthday. You've somehow managed to survive another year."
Then Goku's birthday began with him being tickled in the sand.
By Katrina Proctor
He woke up to the sound of the alarm and fur up his nose. After he shoved the cat off his face, Goku slammed the snooze button on his clock.
A few minutes passed before it slowly seeped into his brain that Sanzo was already up. Not that it was unusual for his lover to get out of bed first. Why did he have to fall for a morning person? Goku was much more content to let noon pass by before he rose, and the only sunrises he wanted to see were the ones he stayed up all night for.
Of course, Sanzo could stay up for the same sunrise and still make it out of bed before Goku. Stupid insomnia. Goku liked to cuddle against Sanzo, but it was rather difficult to do that when the man was never in bed.
Nine minutes of peace passed, and Goku enjoyed every second of his soft, very comfortable bed. Then the quiet was shattered by the alarm going off again.
Grumbling, Goku pushed himself out of his nest. The cat took the opportunity to usurp the warm spot, purring quite happily as it looked at Goku with amber eyes.
"Sanzo will gut you if he catches you getting fur all over the sheets again," he told the clearly unimpressed animal. As he gathered up his clothes, the brunette wondered exactly how that spoiled ball of fur managed to rank lower than him on the cycle of reincarnation. Seemed like one of those dream lives. If he ever got the chance, Goku decided, he was going to come back as someone's pampered house pet.
A shower did make him feel a little more normal. The water washed over him, warming muscles that had been stretched into some odd positions the night before. Sadly, it hadn't been anything interesting that had put him in that odd position. Goku just slept in weird ways, and more often than not woke up with some body part numb.
Reluctant to leave the steam-filled room, Goku finally forced himself to once again start moving. Following his nose down the hall, he wondered why he was doing this. It wasn't like they needed the money. Wise investments and the conservative way they live meant that he didn't have to. Plus he and Sanzo were both independently wealthy.
So why did he torture himself by going to a job he was starting to really starting to dislike? At Wal-Mart of all places. Why didn't he take classes like Sanzo did? It wasn't like he didn't like to learn, he enjoyed the few classes Sanzo had convinced him to take. So why didn't he do that instead of getting up early to go work wherever they felt like sticking him that day? The only reason he could think of was that he was bored.
Then he tripped over the cat.
Loud curses colored the air as Goku stumbled. They grew even louder when he stubbed his toe against the wall.
"Goddamn little motherfucker! Ow! I'm going to shoot you, you damn hairball."
The cat, once again, looked unimpressed.
"You are not going to shoot the cat," came a voice from the kitchen. "Fur will get everywhere, and I sneeze enough with the stupid thing just living with us. If you want to kill it, give it to Gojyo. That idiot can't take care of himself, let alone anything else."
Still mumbling nasty words at the cat, Goku hobbled his way into the kitchen. He paused on the way to the stove to brush a kiss on the back of Sanzo's neck. Then he continued towards the food.
One he had a plate of eggs and bacon, Goku sat across from Sanzo. "Cat wouldn't die at Gojyo's" he pointed out after he finished half the plate. "Hakkai or Yaone would take care of it." A pause as he polished off the rest of the food. "I still don't know how that cockroach managed to get Hakkai -and- Yaone?"
"I don't want to," Sanzo said, reading the paper. Next to him was a neat pile of the sections he had already finished. Goku grinned and nodded before he took a drink of juice.
Then the newspaper sections that had been sitting on the table bounced off his skull.
"Ow!"
"Stupid monkey! Don't drink out of the carton. It spreads germs."
"But you sleep with me! You already have my germs!"
"Hakkai and the others don't. And they do visit from time to time."
Goku tried to match Sanzo glare for glare. It was a lost cause, though, and he knew it. Once again muttering under his breath, this time about bossy blonds, Goku got a glass from the cabinet and poured some juice in it.
Breakfast was relatively quiet from that point on. Goku finished off the rest of the food on the stove, while Sanzo calmly worked his way though a pack of cigarettes. It was a nasty habit, but it was something Goku never could break Sanzo over.
As he worked on another way to attempt the weaning of Sanzo off tobacco, Goku glanced at the clock. With a yelp, he shot out of his chair. Stealing a quick kiss from Sanzo, Goku ran out the door.
The front door slammed shut, and Sanzo sipped his coffee. He had given up trying to teach the monkey to close the door quietly. "Ch," he sighed with a shake of his head.
"Idiot."
///
Somewhere, Goku was sure of it, there was a being whose sole purpose was to drive him mad. Why else would he fall in love with the most stubborn man on earth, have a spoiled cat that refused to sleep anywhere but the bed, and work at Wal-Mart?
His day, to put it mildly, had sucked major ass.
Sanzo's first indication of how Goku's day had gone was when the boy basically did a controlled collapse on the couch Sanzo was sitting on. There was an almost bemused expression on the blond's face as a head landed in his lap. Tired eyes looked up at Sanzo, and the older man could see the stress lines around them.
"I hate people."
A blond brow arched, and Sanzo lifted one hand and began to massage Goku's scalp. The other arm was draped across the smaller man's stomach, and Goku intertwined his fingers with Sanzo's.
Almost purring under the touch, Goku continued. "They're evil, sadistic bastards. All of them. One woman pitched a screaming fit when the Service Desk refused to let her return a CD that had been opened and the words 'This Sucks' scratched on the disc. And then I got stuck in charge of the clearance wall." Wide eyes held a frightened expression, and Sanzo felt the urge to shoot something.
"Those people swarmed the instant someone announced that the wall was there." Goku paused. "Remember those old Biblical movies, when the plague of locusts eat everything? Those are Wal-Mart customers at the sight of clearance."
Goku shivered and wiggled closer to Sanzo. "I just don't like people."
Normally, Sanzo would have smirked. That line was highly unusual coming from Goku. Of their group of friends, Goku had to be the most people- oriented. It was Sanzo who hated people. For Goku to say what he just had meant one of two things. Either he had been with Sanzo too long, or the job was really that horrible.
Sanzo didn't think that the former was the problem. Otherwise he wouldn't have a lapful of Goku. He could feel how tense Goku was, though, and heard the real irritation in the other's voice.
So, instead of smirking, Sanzo frowned. Nobody treated his monkey like that.
Slowly, Goku relaxed and began to doze off, never realizing that Sanzo was starting to plot.
///
There was a soft sigh from Goku as he was set down on the bed. Sanzo had come home from class to find him asleep on the couch. Rather than listen the complaints of sore muscles he would be sure to hear if he let Goku stay there all night, Sanzo had carried the boy to bed.
Sanzo admitted to himself something he would never let another soul know. He was spoiled. He and Goku had been living together since Goku was eight. Even though he had been only thirteen years old himself, he had realized there was something special about the chocolate-haired boy, and he enjoyed the fact that Goku felt the same about him. Goku had been the first person he had let himself care for, and their lives had been good.
But now he barely got to see the boy. Nor was he the only one. Hakkai had stopped by the other day and commented on how he hadn't seen Goku in a few months.
As he looked down at Goku, Sanzo admitted he was unhappy with the situation. He wanted to see more of Goku than just when the boy slept at night and before he went to work. And Sanzo wasn't so selfish that he was going to grudge Goku his sleep.
He knew that Goku had been bored. That's why he took the job in the first place. But now it was just wearing him down. He did some of everything, and while Sanzo admitted that Goku did bring home a lot of money, he also knew they didn't need it. And all it did anymore was take up Goku's time and energy.
All of this had gone through Sanzo's mind as he absently watched Goku sprawl out on their bed. Goku sighed again, drawing the older man's attention and Sanzo smile softly as he heard his name. Taking a minute to grab his laptop, he slid into bed, his decision made.
Time to be the selfish bastard everyone knew he could be.
///
Something was off.
Slowly, Goku opened his eyes, trying to figure out exactly what was wrong with the situation. He sneezed fur out of his nose, and realized that his face was not covered by the cat. But he was still really warm. That's when it dawned on him that the sun was shining on his face. That meant something, but his sleep-sated brain could not quite grasp what.
Then it hit him.
With a yelp, he rolled out of bed. He was really, really late for work.
Goku darted out of the room, only to be scooped up into a fireman's hold. Suddenly draped over a hard shoulder, Goku was silent as he gasped for air. He knew exactly who had him, but he wasn't sure why.
"San-zo," he whined when he was able to breathe again. "What are you doing?" He tried to wiggle, only to receive a swat on the only place Sanzo could reach.
"HEY!"
"Don't wiggle. You don't have the brains to spare if I drop you on that thick skull of yours."
Goku couldn't see it, but he knew that Sanzo was smirking.
"Bastard. What the hell are you doing?"
"We're going on a trip."
"But I have to work."
"Called you in dead."
"WHAT?!"
He could not have heard that right.
"Dead. Called you in dead. Should be simple enough for your monkey brain to handle."
Goku had no response to that. He hated being draped over Sanzo's shoulder like this, though. The man he was going to strangle was walking, and that had a weird effect on Goku's stomach. It was rather uncomfortable to feel himself rocking like he was. It seemed like he was going to fall any second, though he knew Sanzo would never drop him.
A flash of green caught his eye, and Goku turned his head to see Hakkai standing nearby, the cat in his arms.
"Hakkai! You've got to save me. Sanzo's gone nuts."
"Have fun on your trip, Goku. Don't worry; I'll take care of the house." Hakkai smiled at Goku's scowl. After being forced to listen to Sanzo rant about how Goku was never around, Hakkai felt he deserved to torment the brunette. Besides, it would do the pair good to get out of the house.
Of course, he had just arrived barely an hour ago. It appeared Sanzo had not expected Goku to sleep as long as he had. Else Hakkai might not have gotten the message he had on the answering machine. A surprise to be sure. It wasn't everyday one got a message that, er, blunt. Especially from Sanzo. Gojyo had laughed his ass off, and Yaone had tittered when Hakkai had played it for them. "Not dead. Watch the house. Going to find someplace nice to shag Goku back to normal."
Definitely not the normal phone message.
So, after he had stopped laughing, he had headed for the house Sanzo and Goku shared. Only to find the pair still there.
Now he watched as Sanzo was quite calmly carrying Goku towards the door. It was clear that the squabbling was nothing more than play fighting, but it was still interesting to watch.
"San~zo. I'm hungry. At least let me get something to eat before you take me to the middle of nowhere, you hard-nosed jackass."
"What makes you think I'm going to feed anyone who calls me a jackass?" Though Hakkai noticed that Sanzo did walk to the kitchen long enough for Goku to snag a bowl of fruit and bagels off the table. In his arms, the cat meowed.
Looking at the calico in his arms, Hakkai smiled. "That's right, Mi-ke. You'll be staying with me for a while."
"Her name's Tama," yelled Goku, who was still over Sanzo's shoulder. He glared at Hakkai from his upside down position.
"Every damn time we get a cat, you guys argue over the name," growled Sanzo, who then sneezed. "And I just sneeze a lot. Why don't we get a dog?"
"Because you're too much like a cat to deal with a noisy, smelly dog," Goku answered around a mouthful of bagel.
"I deal with you, don't I?"
"I'm not smelly," was the indignant reply.
And that was the last Hakkai saw of his friends. He waited until he heard the sound of the car leaving before putting the cat down. "They are going to drive each other insane," he said to the animal as he made his way towards the kitchen. "And they're going to love every second of it."
///
Somehow, they had managed to get to the car without Goku either falling on his head or dropping his food. That was a minor miracle in itself, since Goku kept trying to see what was going on.
Under him, Sanzo shifted, and Goku heard the click of a car door opening. Then his view changed as he was carefully dumped onto the backseat. Above him, Sanzo smirked, then started to pull away.
Goku snagged Sanzo's shirt, keeping the man from moving. "What's going on, Sanzo? Where are we going?"
For a moment, Goku saw all the emotions Sanzo never verbalized. Love, concern, and something he couldn't identify flashed across those violet eyes. Then they were gone. Goku's thoughts quickly followed as Sanzo pressed a hard kiss against his lips.
"Bakasaru," purred the blond as he pulled away, shirt slipping through Goku's suddenly lax fingers. The familiar insult made Goku grin inside even as he glared at Sanzo. He had not heard that phrase since they had moved to America. Not that Sanzo didn't use the English equivalent, but the original term was an in-joke in their group of friends. And between Goku and Sanzo, it was a pet name. Sanzo's version of 'dear.'
It was obvious to Goku that Sanzo wasn't going to explain anything. And since the only thing that -might- make Sanzo do something he didn't want to was a life or death situations, Goku resigned himself to not knowing yet.
So he laid in the backseat and finished off both bagels and fruit as Sanzo got the little kidnapping/road trip underway. Dropping the last apple core into the bowl and licking the sticky juice from his fingers, Goku looked out the window. Unfortunately, they lived far enough from the city that all he saw was a pale blue sky, broken by only the occasional tree. For some reason, the sight sent a shiver up his back, so Goku turned his attention to inside the car.
A little bit passed, and Goku grumbled to himself. There wasn't anything really interesting to look at while he was laying down in the backseat. And he was bored.
When the shimmer of light hitting Sanzo's hair caught his attention, Goku grinned impishly. Time to entertain himself.
Sanzo's hair, normally caught up in a tight braid, was only pulled into a loose ponytail that trailed down the back of the seat. It was long enough that it pooled on the floor, and the vibrations of the vehicle made the whole length dance back and forth slightly.
Cat-like, Goku gently batted at the long tail. The strands were warm and smooth against his fingers, and Goku's grin grew into a true smile. It made him think someone had spun thread from sunlight every time he touched that golden hair, a concept that amused Sanzo to no end when told.
The first few playful tugs were ignored, and Goku snickered to himself. He knew exactly how much pressure it would take to rip hair from the scalp, and as long a he stayed below that, he might get away with this for a while.
That's when the rubber band bounced off his skull.
"OW!"
Sitting up, Goku saw Sanzo slide that stupid rubber band gun into his pocket. "Stupid monkey. How many times have I told you to not pull my hair?"
Ignoring the question, Goku clambered over the seat to sit next to Sanzo. A moment passed as he got settled and fastened his seatbelt, then he looked around.
It took a little bit of driving, but the brunette finally recognized enough landmarks to realize they were heading south. Racking his mind, Goku slowly figured out that he had no idea where they might be going. Instead of asking again, he decided to dig through the CD collection. No point in getting hit by that stupid gun again.
Finally grabbing the Boondock Saints disc Sanzo had just bought, Goku slid it into the player. Even if he didn't know what was going on, he knew Sanzo would have a plan. So he was just going to enjoy this. Leaning back, he let the music wash over him and his eyes slid shut as the sun warmed his skin.
///
The sound of a soft snore slowly caught Sanzo's attention, and he glanced over to see Goku dozing. Sunlight streamed in that side of the car, and Goku was sprawled out under it. How the boy managed to go that flat without sliding out of the seat, Sanzo had no idea.
The sunlight brought out amber highlights in the chocolate hair, and added a healthy color to Goku's cheeks. The effect made Goku look much younger, and Sanzo suddenly felt as if he was committing a crime by sleeping with the boy. The term jailbait was very clear in his mind. Even if he did know how old Goku really was.
This trip was doing some good already if Goku had relaxed that much. Though if Sanzo wrecked because he was watching Goku instead of the road, Goku would tense up again. And they did need supplies. Sanzo hadn't packed a thing, just Goku and himself. That had come from the idea of not taking anything to remind Goku of work. So as he drove down the road, Sanzo began looking for decent places to shop.
///
He had just sat down at an endless table of food when something poked him in the side. Hard.
The smell of smoke drifted over him as Goku slowly woke up. He yawned, stretched, then blinked sleepily at Sanzo. "I'm hungry, Sanzo."
Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Someday you're going to have to stop eating your own weight in food. What will you do then?"
A smile was flashed his direction. "Probably eat some more."
There was a sigh from Sanzo, though Goku did catch a tiny bit of smirk crossing Sanzo's face. Then the blond nodded towards a large building behind him. "Come on," he sighed. "I'll buy you some food. We have to restock anyway."
"Well, if you hadn't carried me out of the house, maybe we'd have supplies," Goku groused as he looked around the car. "Tell me you at least brought some shoes." A pair of sandals landed on his lap. Eyeing the bright purple things with disgust, Goku slid them on.
"Why the hell do you have purple sandals in your car? Neon purple sandals, at that."
A shrug, then Sanzo gave a real answer. "I think Yaone left them last time we all went out in my car. Remember, Gojyo carried her into their house."
Goku closed one eyes. "Don't want to remember. I know way too much about that ero kappa's sex life." He eyes the sandals again. "But, still, purple? You are so going to pay for this later, Sanzo."
"Really?" Something in Sanzo's expression made Goku blush.
However, two could play at that game.
Goku slithered out of the car, and then stretched. He could feel the cool breeze on his stomach as the movement made his shirt rise up. Then the brunette slowly arched backwards, far enough that he could touch the back of his knees. The plain white shirt he wore to sleep in slid up about his shoulders and Goku caught the faintest hint of sound from Sanzo. His lover had just audibly gulped.
At the noise, Goku just as slowly pulled out of the stretch. He smiled brightly at Sanzo as he straightened his shirt. "Come on, Sanzo. I can smell food."
Cheerfully dodging the notebook Sanzo had pulled from a pocket and swung at him, Goku ran towards the mall entrance, laughing.
///
That little pit stop had been expensive, but worth every cent. Goku had bounced from store to store, including every concession stand at least twice, eyeing everything. He had managed to assemble a complete new wardrobe, including some clothing for Sanzo. The happy expression on his face was the only thing that kept Sanzo from following his urge to strangle everything in the store. That and the fact that Goku modeled a lot of things that Sanzo would never let him leave the house in.
Including a pair of leather pants.
Shaking himself out of his leather pant induced daze, Sanzo sat back in his seat as Goku finished off yet another slice of pizza. So far, the other man had been remarkable quite about the trip. Mostly it was because he had spent a good portion of it asleep, but Sanzo was fairly sure that the respite wouldn't last long. Goku was far too curious to let anything like this alone long. Mostly likely the only reason he hadn't asked yet was because this was a dream shopping trip. Anything he wanted, and Sanzo was paying for it all.
"Sanzo?"
Returning from his own thoughts, Sanzo looked at Goku. Serious gold-brown eyes looked back.
"Yes?"
"Did it really bother you that much that I worked?"
A pause, as the bustle of mall traffic seemed to fade away.
"In a way. Mostly because it bothered you so much, and that made you irritate the hell out of me."
Now there was confusion on Goku's face. "But it didn't really bother me.... I don't think it did, anyway."
Sanzo reached forward and snagged a piece of pepperoni off Goku's pizza. He ate that slowly, wondering if Goku would figure it out for himself.
And it was very clear that the Goku was thinking about what Sanzo had just said.
"It was kinda fun at first. I got to see all these different people, and I got to learn all sorts of new things. It was interesting. I was really, really bored at home, and I got to make new friends. But...." His voice faded out.
"You got quiet, Goku. And not just now." Sanzo stole another pepperoni. When Goku didn't react, he knew that the monkey was still thinking hard. "You were all talkative about it, at first. Then after a few months passed, you stopped talking about it. I expected you to quit, but you didn't. And then you started to sound more like me than was healthy."
"Yah, grumpy people shouldn't live together." The insult was more automatic than anything, and Sanzo could clearly see that Goku hadn't even realized what he had said. But he still stole another slice of pepperoni. One shouldn't let things like that go unpunished.
Finally, after Sanzo had stolen every piece of meat off his pizza, Goku spoke once more. "I was just so bored. And then it was like I couldn't leave." A pause. "And you're already doing the school thing, so I didn't want to step on your territory."
"Ch. Idiot. I don't own the school." Now Sanzo watched as Goku fidgeted with his pizza, not really seeing it. "Even if I didn't want to be in the same classes as you, there is a variety. We could actually both go to school and never see each other." A sharp look of surprise crossed Goku's face. Sanzo wasn't sure if it was from the fact that they could take separate classes, or if it was the fact he had mentioned it.
"Or we could take the same classes. It doesn't matter. I go to class to learn different things. Because I'd go insane if I stayed home all the time." Sanzo took a sip of his soda. "I don't expect you to stay home all the time, either. I'm neither your keeper nor your owner. We all have free will, and it's our own responsibility to live life as we see fit. But I'm not going to watch you burn yourself out because of some misplaced sense of territory."
The words seemed to register with Goku, and he absently took a bite of pizza. A second later, and he seemed to return to reality. "HEY! You ate all the topping off my pizza!"
Sanzo smirked and sipped his soda again.
///
"Sheep."
The glass was cool against his face, Goku noticed as he began to fidget. The drive had been rather long, and he had gotten bored again. So he decided to entertain himself. Again. And at the moment, he was playing the farm animal game. It was harder than expected, since the only things lighting their surroundings were the headlights of the car and the full moon overhead. Still, it was enough.
"Horse, horse, horse, goat, horse."
Goku could actually feel Sanzo twitch every time he called out an animal. It didn't help that when they passed groups he would call out every animal he could see. He knew that if he turned around, he would actually be able to see a vein throb on Sanzo's forehead.
"Horse."
Of course, if he saw how twitchy he was making Sanzo, he might feel the urge to stop. And since the farm animal game was the only thing keeping him from screaming bloody murder, he was determined to not look at Sanzo.
Then a large field, full of sheep, came into view, and he took a deep breath.
"NO! No! No! No!"
Each 'no' was accompanied by a smack of the notebook. How the hell Sanzo had managed to get it out and smack Goku with it, while not going off the road, was a source of constant mystery for Goku. Well, it would have been if he wasn't so busy trying to save his head.
"Damn it, stop. Ow! Okay, Okay, I'll quit. Mean old man."
Sanzo didn't respond to the taunt, he only placed the notebook back in his pocket and muttered to himself.
"What was that? I can't understand you." Goku decided that if he couldn't play one game, he'd play another. Mainly it would be to annoy Sanzo. A fun game, even if it meant lots of smacks with that stupid notebook.
"I said," Sanzo snapped, clearly enunciating his words with a clipped tone. "That you'd think I would learn to lock you in the trunk on long car trips."
"It was your idea to go on this road trip from hell in the first place. Don't forget that. The first one was your fault, too."
"Ch. At least I'm not responsible for the great Meatbun Search. How many hours did we spend looking for the restaurant?"
Since he couldn't easily defend anything that did take that long to accomplish, Goku just stuck his tongue out.
"I can find a use for that, Goku. And this is neither the time nor place."
Goku could once again feel the warmth of a blush cover his face. Damn. How could the man do that? Instead of coming up with a retort, he looked out the window. Bright light had caught his attention. "Hey, an IHOP sign. Let's stop there."
There was a loud sigh from the blond. But he didn't immediately say no, so there was still hope. "Please, Sanzo. It's only a few miles away. We can stop there. It's got to be open, and at this time of night, it's the only place open. Ple~ase?"
More grumblings, but Goku saw Sanzo take a quick glimpse at the sign. He was going to get food. Happy times.
Ten minutes later, they were at the IHOP, and Goku ordered half the menu. Literally. He couldn't help it. Sanzo had given his typical warning about not ordering everything off the left side of the menu, so Goku had ordered everything on the right, just to irritate the other man. And it had almost worked. He could see Sanzo's hand twitch for the pocket holding the notebook, but then the blond stopped. Instead, he had placed his own order, then stared out the window. The whole situation was becoming extremely fishy, and Goku really wondered what was going on.
"Where we going?"
Oops. He hadn't meant to ask. Not yet. Still, after their more serious talk last time they had eaten, he was ready to find out exactly what was going on. Of course, he didn't really expect an answer.
"Where do you want to go?"
Goku could actually hear himself blink. Loudly blink. That hadn't happened for a while.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Simple question, monkey. Where. Do. You. Want. To. Go?"
There was a pause in the conversation as the waitress brought over their food. Several trips worth of food. Goku quickly dug in, pondering this unusual turn of events. Sanzo never asked where they were going. He always told. He always had a plan. It stunned Goku that this one simple question from Sanzo had thrown him for such a loop.
"The beach."
Sanzo, long finished with his pancakes, stared out the window once more, playing with a pack of cigarettes. He hadn't lit one up, and it dawned on Goku that Sanzo hadn't smoked a single one since they had left home. So there was hope of breaking him of that habit.
"Any particular beach?"
"No. Not really. I just like the beach. One with real waves, maybe."
Long fingers flipped the pack around. "Not that hard. Should be fairly easy to find something to order."
This was getting too weird for Goku. He finished his food, then stood. Stretching again caused his back to pop, and a loud yawn suddenly erupted from him.
As if he had been waiting for that, Sanzo slid out of the booth and shooed Goku towards the car. "Go back to sleep. You're less annoying that way."
Goku did as he was asked, but not before flipping Sanzo off. Then he dozed off once more, the hum of tires on road and the soft mummer of music filling his ears
///
"Wake up."
The soft voice was emphasized by the gentle shaking, and Goku dragged himself from the deep doze he had been enjoying. He yawned, jaw popping, and then looked at Sanzo with bleary eyes. A light touch brushed his cheek, and Goku noticed that Sanzo had let his hair down. The edge of it was what had tickled Goku's face.
"Come on, Goku. You need to get out of the car for this."
Goku let himself be pulled from the vehicle. It only took a moment for the saltiness of the air and the roar of waves to make themselves known, and gold eyes grew large as they took in the expanse of beach that was laid out before them. Goku blinked, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked again, then smiled.
The water was the blackish color of night, but at the place sky and water met, there was a glimmer of color. It seemed to spread, slowly, crawling out to cover more of the shimmering waves.
Sunrise.
Sanzo tugged Goku to the back of the car. The blond man sat down and leaned against the bumper. Goku followed. Resting between Sanzo's legs, he leaned back against the other man, eyes fixed on the dance of colors that seemed to bleed over the area. The effect that happened when those colors caught the waves was amazing. Everything seemed to be changing so fast, but it also had that rare timeless quality that only the most beautiful of things can achieve.
Goku felt Sanzo's arms tight around him, and then the soft warmth of his breath against Goku's ear. "Does this meet the 'beach' requirement?"
Before Goku could even think to respond, there was a bright flash. A second later, before he had a chance to blink the dazzle from his eyes, there was another flash. He heard Sanzo snarl, but Goku only blinked away the spots in his eyes and wrapped his hands around Sanzo's.
"Just a minute, Sanzo," he murmured. "Beat them up later. Just us, okay."
The arms around him tightened once more. "Just us, bakasaru." And Goku felt Sanzo's chin resting on his shoulder as the sun rose over the water. The light danced over the water, growing steadily brighter. The colors of the sunrise began to fade, replaced by the deepest blue Goku had ever seen. As he watched the sun grow too bright to look at, Goku had something dropped in his lap. Looking up, he saw a young woman walking down the beach, a camera in her hand. He glanced at what she had dropped, then smiled.
"Look, Sanzo."
Sanzo reached over Goku's shoulder to pick up the picture. It was the pair of them, leaning against the car. Their expressions were ones of peace and happiness. The pale gold and red of sunrise painted their skins. It glittered off the loose cloak of Sanzo's hair, and the matching earrings the lovers wore.
On the bottom of the picture were a few lines of poetry.
"I am in this world to offer you peace; You are in this world to bring me joy."
"What...?" Goku looked once more after the girl, but she was out of speaking range.
"It's a quote."
Now Goku twisted to look at Sanzo. His questioning look was enough to prompt a more thorough response.
"It is part of a poem called Interrelationship, by Dhyana Master Thich Nhat Hanh. A Buddhist monk from Vietnam."
"Do you know the rest?" Goku asked as he looked at the two lines again. For a moment, the only sounds were the calls of the gulls wheeling overhead and the sound of the waves crashing against the sand. Then Sanzo began to speak softly, barely whispering above the sounds of the water.
"You are me, and I am you Isn't it obvious that we 'inter-are'? You cultivate the flower in yourself So that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself, So you will not have to suffer.
I support you, You support me. I am in this world to offer you peace, You are in this world to bring me joy."
Goku squeezed Sanzo's fingers, which were still trapped in his, as his way of saying thanks. Then he turned his head just enough so that he could see the other's expression.
"A Buddhist wrote that? Are you sure?" Goku's tone was full of doubt.
Sanzo glared at him. "Of course I'm sure. Why?"
Goku grinned back. "Because the only Buddhist I know is you, and you're an antisocial, violent bastard."
With a quick twist of his wrists, Sanzo freed his hands. His fingers unerringly found the ticklish spots on Goku's ribs and pressed against them. "Oi, Goku."
Already trying to move away from those evil fingers, Goku sniggered out something that sounded like a response. Even if it wasn't, Sanzo continued on.
"Happy birthday. You've somehow managed to survive another year."
Then Goku's birthday began with him being tickled in the sand.