Grace Descending
"The fireworks were great," Gojyo slurred as he followed Sanzo up the stairs of the inn and back to their room. It didn't bother him that Sanzo didn't answer, since Sanzo was studiously navigating the steps in front of him. Gojyo waited patiently, then suddenly remembered that they'd all enjoyed the festival on Gojyo's pocket money, because the other three swore they were out of cash, and the vendors didn't take credit cards.
"Except you guys didn't need to spend all my damn money. Lousy priest." Gojyo ran out of patience and leaned on him from behind. "C'mon and move."
"Shut up. And get off me." Sanzo stumbled up several steps and made the landing. He turned around and tried to put his cigarette in his mouth, missed, and pointed it at Gojyo instead. "You said yourself - Such events require planning. Hn."
"Really funny." Which it wasn't - because Gojyo had planned on spending that money buying drinks for the ladies. Instead, the other three plotted against him to spend his money on themselves. Hakkai later had said it was to keep Gojyo out of trouble. But Sanzo had smirked and admitted he'd gone along with it, because it was amusing to watch the kappa suffer.
"Bastards." Gojyo grabbed the railing and hauled himself up the last stairs. He collided with Sanzo, stepping on his foot, and knocking them both off balance and against the wall.
"Shh!" They hushed each other. So close, Gojyo had one of those brief, but occasional moments where he remembered that Sanzo was kind of pretty for a guy. Sanzo pushed Gojyo off.
Gojyo stumbled a few steps down the hall. "Well, your plan sucks. Sucked. I'm broke." He stopped in front of a door. "Wassit this one?"
"You didn't have to keep buying." Sanzo fumbled with the key and finally got the door open. They staggered inside.
Gojyo let the door slam behind him, peeled off his jacket and tossed it on a chair by the bathroom. "Well, I didn't have enough money left to woo a pretty girl! Thanks to you guys! What else was I gonna do with the rest of it?"
Sanzo scoffed as he peeled off his robes and shirt, and sat heavily on the bed. "Pfft. You talk too much." He tugged off his boots and left them where they fell. "Get me an ashtray."
"It's next to you, you lazy priest." Gojyo leaned one hand against the wall and toed off his boots. He walked unsteadily to the other side of the bed and flopped back onto it.
Sanzo managed to lift his legs onto the bed, then scooted around to give him a heavy-lidded glare. "This is my bed."
Gojyo pulled his cigarettes and lighter from his shirt pocket. "It's the only bed, and it's big enough for two people."
"You're a goddamn pervert when you sleep. Go sleep somewhere else."
Gojyo tutted and lit his cigarette. "If there were only some pretty ladies waiting for me somewhere."
Sanzo grabbed the ashtray and sprawled back on the bed. "For fucks sake, no one wants to hear about your lack of love life. Smoke your smoke and go to sleep."
"You're a priest. You'll just never fuckin' get it." Gojyo laughed a little to himself. "Hell, you've probably never had it." Although it'd been so long for Gojyo, that he'd started to wonder if he'd ever get it again before he turned into an old man on this stupid road trip.
"What I do is none of your business," Sanzo said.
"Huh?" Gojyo had to think for a moment, and then caught the tone of Sanzo's voice. "You sayin' you've done it?" Gojyo tried to sit up. When the soft bed failed to provide the needed support, he settled for rolling onto his side. "I don't believe it."
Sanzo exhaled a cloud of smoke at the ceiling.
Gojyo stared at his profile. "Nah. You haven't had sex. Hell," he added as he rolled back over. "I'd bet you haven't even kissed anyone."
"You're a moron."
Gojyo looked back. "Have you?"
"Yes."
Gojyo blinked and then laughed. "Can't believe it."
Sanzo turned his head to face him and Gojyo stopped laughing, because Sanzo had that look he got whenever someone issued a challenge. Gojyo remembered it from the drinking challenge, and even more so when they'd fought in that dumbass Best in the World championship. He quickly blocked out memory of the ill-fitting award he'd been given and refocused his eyes on Sanzo's narrowed ones.
"Sanzo?" Gojyo glanced at Sanzo's hands to see if he was going to grab the fan or the gun, but they only moved to push Sanzo back to sitting on the bed.
"Hn. I'll end this now." Sanzo smashed out his cigarette in the ashtray and pushed it aside before he rolled over onto his hands and knees just beside Gojyo. "I'll prove it," he drawled in his haughtiest voice.
Gojyo felt both bewildered and amused. He took a puff of his smoke and grinned. "Heh heh! Sanzo. All you're doing is proving you're drunk. How the hell you gonna prove something like that!"
"Shut up." Sanzo swayed a little. Still kneeling over him, he watched Gojyo's cigarette for a moment before looking back intently at Gojyo. "You brag you're an expert, so you can be the judge. I'll shut you up."
Gojyo blinked up at that look of intent, and realized what Sanzo was suggesting. "Tch. I don't do guys." Which wasn't the same as never had, but there were things he'd rather not repeat; an easy solve by staying with what he liked best - women. He took another drag of cigarette.
The cigarette caught Sanzo's gaze again and he plucked it from Gojyo's fingers and took his own puff before leaning away to drop it in the ashtray. "You're not doing me, idiot. We're kissing. Completely different." Sanzo turned back to Gojyo with a smug look on his face.
Gojyo lazily hooked his arm back behind the pillow behind him, considered those words, and thought they made a perfect sort of sense. He smirked. "Only a pervert would think up rationalisations like that, Sanzo-chan."
Sanzo moved one hand to Gojyo's other side and leaned down until his breath ghosted across Gojyo's mouth and chin. "Didn't I just tell you to shut up?"
He brushed his lips against Gojyo's in a gentle move that caught Gojyo off-guard. And then he did it again, slow and deliberate, and hot in a way that Gojyo hadn't felt for so long that a muffled gasp escaped him.
He felt Sanzo's weight settle on his chest, heavy and warm, and Gojyo knew he was in trouble. Because it felt too good. Because it'd been too long since he'd been with anyone. Because it was Sanzo - shit - and Sanzo was pretty damn good.
Gojyo let himself give in to it a little, let his hand roam up to capture the back of Sanzo's head and feel the hair there, dry as straw from too many years on the road, but silkier underneath against his neck. And then he took over the kiss and felt Sanzo relax to it, warm and pliant.
Sanzo moaned against his mouth and his hands came up and cupped Gojyo's head. Fingers touched his cheeks, threaded through his hair just around the temples and it felt like a caress, something so intimate that it made his chest hurt, because it felt like being wanted. And, goddamn, that hurt even more, because it was Sanzo, and Sanzo didn't want anything. Gojyo pushed that aside. It was okay. Just this was okay. A warm body next to his - just someone, anyone. He let Sanzo take control of their kisses again, rougher and unrestrained, and let his other hand slide across the bare skin of Sanzo's back, reveling in the slide of skin under his fingers as he moved lower across Sanzo's ribs to his waist.
Sanzo's body twitched, and then again as he jerked away to the side. "Shit! That tickles," he grumbled. He kneeled up on the bed, his lips pinked and face flushed, and he looked at Gojyo, panting a little. And then he sighed and shook his head. "Tch. I'm done making my point," he said, his voice just a little rough as he pushed his way off the bed and grabbed his smokes. He settled on the edge of the bed, his back to Gojyo and his shoulders hunched as he lit one.
There was a cold and drunken sort of clarity that washed over Gojyo, because, holy shit, he'd just been making out with Sanzo. Sobered a little by that thought, he rolled off the edge of the bed, and picked up the pack of smokes and lighter that had tipped unnoticed out of his pocket. On his way to the bathroom, he pulled out a smoke and let it hang unlit from his lip while he took a piss.
Within seconds, Sanzo appeared to empty his bladder as well. Smoke from his cigarette drifted toward Gojyo's face. Gojyo resisted the urge to look down for anything he might never have noticed about Sanzo's junk. He finished and hit the handle of the toilet before zipping himself up and moving over to the sink.
Sanzo finished and turned around and nearly ran into him. "You lost? Why the hell are you standing behind me?" He scowled and then brushed past Gojyo back into the bedroom.
Gojyo stuck out his tongue behind his back and then lit his cigarette. It hadn't taken very long for Sanzo's usual personality to resurface past the alcohol. He slowly drifted back toward his side of the bed as he smoked. "So you're into guys? Or maybe it's just my good looks."
"Tch. Go to hell. I didn't hear you complain." Sanzo reached for his travel bag and dragged it closer.
"Didn't answer my question," Gojyo pressed. "I'm just curious." Because maybe it would help him figure out what to think about where he stood to what they'd just done.
Sanzo shook his head, seemed to pause in thought, and a brief smirk flashed across his face. "Hn. I'm an opportunist." He pulled out his toothbrush, and a few other items he used to get ready in the mornings and set them to the side.
Gojyo grunted as he smacked his knee as he climbed onto the bed and collapsed there. "And just how many opportunities are out there for the highest priest in all -"
"Everywhere I go," Sanzo groused. "And everyone is annoying as hell and I'm just not fucking interested." He swung his feet onto the bed and rolled on his side away from Gojyo, and his voice dropped low, as if adding an afterthought. "It's less trouble to scratch my own itch." He whipped the blanket over his legs. "Now go to sleep or die."
Gojyo didn't say a word as he started to mull that information over, and promptly passed out.
In the early morning, Hakkai banged on the door, and announced he and Goku were going downstairs. Gojyo burrowed further into the blankets, recognized Sanzo's back pressed to his own back, and for just a moment thought nothing of it. Until Sanzo muttered, "Fuck," and climbed out of the bed and shuffled into the bathroom.
"Fuck," Gojyo echoed in a whisper, and then quietly freaked out that he'd been kissing Sanzo just a few hours ago. Totally lips and tongue and swapping spit, and feeling good, and...something that felt like affection. It made Gojyo's stomach drop with anxiety, because that just wasn't real. It was probably something dredged up from his own past insecurities, which he was completely over, because he had friends now who wouldn't leave him when everything went to hell, and - shit, who was he kidding?
"So fucked," he muttered. And in the short span it took for Sanzo to reappear, he'd almost convinced himself that Sanzo had played a fucking head game on him. Because over the years, he'd learned that Sanzo liked messing with his head almost as much as Gojyo enjoyed teasing him. Gojyo frowned. He could just pretend he didn't remember any of it. That was probably the safest and least painful way to go about it. Hell, maybe Sanzo wouldn't remember. Buoyed by that thought, Gojyo threw back the sheets and swung himself out of bed.
There was a surreal moment of hungover normalcy, of just a night of drinking and another long day ahead. Sanzo rubbed his face and pushed his hair out of his eyes as he grabbed his shirt and robes from the floor.
Gojyo watched him from the corner of his eye as he took that first step toward the bathroom, when Sanzo jerked his head up with a wide-eyed look that stopped Gojyo in his tracks. Gojyo struggled to not mirror the shock on Sanzo's face, and managed to grind out a hoarse, "What?"
Sanzo's eyes slowly narrowed to a suspicious glare, but he didn't say a word, and instead, gave his head a shake and winced, and started to dress.
Gojyo very slowly exhaled and continued on his way. In front of the mirror, he brushed his teeth and thought about kissing Sanzo, again. And maybe more thoroughly. He washed his face and questioned his sanity. The sudden banging on the door made him jump.
"What the hell are you doing? Filling the bowl on your head? Let's go!"
"Fuck off." Gojyo tsked. He made a face and pulled his hair back in a ponytail, and then tossed his head to feel the weight drag over his shoulders. He didn't think he was a bad looking guy, even with the scars. But it felt like a desperate joke from the gods that the only person he'd made out with in a long time was the highest-ranking, bad-tempered priest of Shangri-La. He sighed, and then winked at himself in the mirror, because he'd do it again. But for now, everything would be just as it was and last night never happened, and his sanity was safe for another day.
Townsfolk never reacted well to strangers banging on their doors after midnight, but that's just what the Sanzo-ikkou had done, after they'd crawled down the mountain and away from that fight with the Ukoku.
Sanzo's disappearance after Goku was mortally wounded had infuriated Gojyo. Finding Sanzo a couple weeks later had tempered that fury with a sort of relief. And watching over Sanzo while he healed simply left Gojyo feeling exhausted and irritable, because he alternately wanted to beat the shit out of Sanzo, and then kiss him.
Not that kissing the monk was likely to happen again. It'd been months and months since that stupid drunken night when Sanzo had taken Gojyo's teasing as a challenge and set out to prove that Sanzo could, in fact, kiss quite well.
Gojyo still wasn't certain if Sanzo remembered all of it. There'd never been anything said or done between them that suggested it ever happened. It might as well have been a dream.
Hakkai found the patience that first night, to explain to the townsfolk they needed a doctor, and place to stay more than one night. They'd been led to a home emptied by past demon-attack.
The doctor had arrived and set up in the front room, where he attended Sanzo's injuries. Goku stayed with Sanzo. Hakkai roped Gojyo into opening windows to air out musty odors, and then to help lay the bed linens.
"I'm injured, too, you know," Gojyo grumbled at Hakkai. After he'd done the work of course. And then the doctor left, and they helped Sanzo to bed, and they all collapsed for a few moments of rest.
Goku took the second bedroom, and Hakkai the last, because even though Gojyo complained about being injured, Hakkai's exhaustion rolled from him in waves. Gojyo assured Hakkai he'd keep an eye on Sanzo - he'd taken good care of Hakkai, after all - and he took the couch in the front room, where he could hear if Sanzo needed anything. But he never did fall asleep because Sanzo tossed and turned and groaned, whether from pain or nightmares, Gojyo wasn't sure, but he couldn't sleep through it the way he usually would.
Gojyo stood on the stoop, feeling his second-wind kicking in from staying awake for too long. He pushed back his sweat-tangled hair, and lit his second cigarette of the morning. He watched the sky turn from grey to pink. The second cigarette tasted better, now that he was more awake, and he sighed a little.
"Thank you, Gojyo." Hakkai's voice came up behind him and he squeezed Gojyo's shoulder and gave him a tired smile. Jeep chirped from his shoulder.
Gojyo shrugged. "You only slept a few hours. Go back to bed. I'm wide awake."
Hakkai leaned on the doorframe and gently petted Jeep in thought. "I'll write a shopping list while I cook breakfast for Goku. Once he's up and you've returned with some supplies, you can get some rest as well."
Gojyo nodded, and tossed his smoke away and smiled, because it always felt good when Hakkai shared some of the burdens and trusted him to get shit done.
He managed to find everything on the list, except for the mending kit Hakkai had requested. Hakkai took the news well, spent the day alternately healing Sanzo and resting. Just before evening, he decided to fetch it himself. Goku said he was hungry and that he'd go with him, and nobody suggested that he went because they were worried that Hakkai might collapse from exhaustion.
Goku and Gojyo hadn't been badly injured. Which wasn't to say they didn't frickin' hurt, because bruises and pulled muscles hurt like hell. But they weren't hurt like Sanzo. Broken bones and dislocations were nothing to sniff at, and Sanzo had plenty. Hakkai could help speed their mending, but it still took time.
Gojyo wandered over to Sanzo's room and looked in. Maybe now that the others were gone, he could prod Sanzo into explaining why the hell he'd left them behind to travel with the two foreigners from the West. Gojyo didn't feel the same level of anger that consumed him those first few days of Sanzo's absence. But now that they had Sanzo back, the resentment burned just under the surface, and he wanted to know.
The lamp by the bed cast a muted glow around the room. Sanzo looked to be asleep, but opened his eyes when the doorframe creaked under Gojyo's weight. He dragged his bandaged arm up and draped it over his eyes. "Hakkai said he cleaned this place, but there's a fucking cockroach in my room."
Gojyo curled his lip in dismay and clucked his tongue. "Fuck you, too, sleeping beauty. Guess I'll smoke this cigarette by myself."
Sanzo's arm lifted and the look of nicotine-deprived want on his face made Gojyo grin cheekily. He turned away. "See ya!"
"Goddammit!" Sanzo bellowed behind him. "Get your ass in here!"
Gojyo turned around in a lazy swagger and made a show of pulling the chair away from the wall, and turning it backwards to straddle it.
Sanzo swore. "Stop dicking around. Do you have my smokes?"
Gojyo pulled his own brand out of his pocket. "Nah. We bought you a new pack for when you're better, but if it's opened, I'll catch hell." He lit a smoke, took one long puff, and passed it to Sanzo's outstretched fingers.
Sanzo inhaled the first drag as it it were oxygen. He closed his eyes and exhaled a long sigh that ended with the tiniest moan. "Fuck. That's good," he murmured.
Gojyo was stricken by the sudden vision of Sanzo with his mouth wrapped around something other than the cigarette. And then Sanzo opened his eyes, and an involuntary gasp escaped Gojyo, because Sanzo had that half-lidded look of pure bliss on his face, and it only fueled his imagination.
Sanzo narrowed his eyes and slid his unbandaged arm back and under his pillow. When he withdrew his hand, it held the fan and he swatted Gojyo on the closest thing he could reach - which luckily was only Gojyo's knee.
"What the hell?" Gojyo jumped and swore.
"Get that perverted look off your face, kappa!"
Embarrassed heat flushed across his neck, but he managed to play it off. "You're seeing things, you blind monk!"
Sanzo gave him a measured glare. "If I see it again, I'm getting my gun."
"Pfft. Want me to get your glasses?" Gojyo waved him off and stood. "Game of cards?"
Sanzo stuck the cigarette in his mouth and rubbed the arm he'd swung at Gojyo. "M'yeah," he muttered around his smoke.
Gojyo left the room and sighed, partly with relief, and part frustration. That meeting hadn't gone quite as planned. Not that he'd planned it, as he tended to go by his gut feelings. But, he'd have to keep Sanzo relaxed enough to at least talk a little. Past experience proved that they were at least capable of short conversations before they plowed into miscommunication. He'd just try again. And if that failed, well, then he'd just kick his ass.
He found Sanzo's glasses, grabbed the pack of cards off the kitchen table and an ashtray and went back to the room. Sanzo's cigarette was mostly gone, and Gojyo saw that he'd flicked the ashes onto the floor by the bed. Gojyo rubbed his socked foot over the evidence as he handed the glasses to Sanzo, and then he set the ashtray on the side-table and sat down to shuffle the cards.
"What game?" He lit a cigarette.
"Don't care." Sanzo crushed his spent smoke into the ashtray and put on his glasses. After a moment, he removed them again and rested them on his chest. He closed his eyes. "Shit, I'm sore."
Gojyo chewed worriedly on the end of his cigarette while he shuffled. It had to be bad if Sanzo actually admitted he hurt. He wondered how long before Hakkai and Goku returned, because maybe Hakkai could do some more healing on Sanzo. They hadn't been gone for long though.
Gojyo glanced down at the cards and back up and started to lay out a hand of cards between himself and Sanzo. Sanzo lay still, his breathing slow and deep, but Gojyo could tell he was still awake. Probably not for long though, and he set the rest of the cards on the table and picked up his hand.
He took a moment to sort them. "Huh. Well, I've got a pair." He pulled out the two fours and laid them next to Sanzo's untouched hand of cards. "Guess, I win."
Sanzo didn't answer.
Gojyo smoked and watched him drift into a deeper sleep. After a moment, he stubbed out his own smoke and rubbed his hands over his face and back through his hair. "Damn. This shit's getting old." He rested his forehead on the back of the chair. "And now I sound like a whiney brat." He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a deep sigh.
It felt like they were all spending more time injured and healing, than traveling. It felt like he was spending way too much time watching over people he cared about and hoping for the best, and praying to no one in particular, just please, be okay. Because when they were hurt, he felt the weight of knowing, a day would come when someone wouldn't wake up.
An image of his mother flitted through his mind, and he almost brushed it away. He didn't think about her often anymore; didn't want to, didn't need to. Because he'd found something with these three guys he'd been traveling with for what felt like forever and ever. But he let her slip in, twitching in a pool of her own blood. And then she stood over him, her hair a curtain that hid everything except the tears that rolled down the curve of her chin. And he thinks if he could just brush her hair back so that she can see that she might be wrong, about everything - might, because sometimes he's still not sure. But when he reaches up, he realizes that he can't quite remember her face, and so she can't see, and he's sorry, so sorry that he still can't do things right.
"Gojyo." Sanzo's low voice suddenly broke through his thoughts and he woke with a start. His neck cracked loudly as he sat up.
"Ow! Sorry!" He stopped and covered his face in delayed mortification, because even though his face didn't feel wet, his eyes felt raw. He rubbed them hard. "Shit. Uh, sorry. What -" And then he heard the front door bang shut. Sanzo must have woken when he'd heard it open.
Goku's voice rang out. "Sanzo! Gojyo! We've got dinner!"
And Hakkai's hushing came right after. "Goku, lower your voice. Sanzo might be sleeping."
"We're up," Gojyo called back. He grabbed the ashtray, stood, and shoved it in his front pocket, butts and all. He looked at Sanzo. "I'm gonna dump this and grab something to eat. You want me to send the monkey in with some food?"
Sanzo shook his head, grabbed the edge of his blanket and threw it back. He was naked. "I need to piss. Get my robe." He very carefully slid one leg over the side of the bed to leverage himself up.
Gojyo frowned at the ugly purple and green bruises around his knees and hips, and all the way up along his ribs. He looked around the room, grabbed Sanzo's robe from behind the door and helped him into it. Since Sanzo was distracted by the pain, Gojyo decided not to remind Sanzo that the fan and gun were still under the pillow.
"Ready?" He leaned down, slid one arm around Sanzo's waist and pulled Sanzo's arm over his shoulder.
"Just stand already!"
Gojyo resisted the urge to yank him hard, and stood slowly, raising them both.
Sanzo groaned and sagged against him. "Goddammit! That hurts!" His grip turned to a stranglehold as he tried to lift his own weight off his previously dislocated joints.
Gojyo thought he sounded hurt, so he supported Sanzo as best as he could and walked in short steps and long pauses down the hall to the bathroom. Sanzo cursed all the way.
Around the dinner table, Goku chattered endlessly, but it wasn't about the stuff they'd done while they'd been separated.
"I'm glad you're up, Sanzo! They didn't have fresh peaches so we got canned. This town's really small. You should eat so you'll feel better. Are you feeling better? Here! Try some of this!"
Gojyo started to tell Goku to shut up, but Hakkai kicked him under the table. So he tried not to listen, and chewed his food so hard he bit the inside of his cheek. Listening to Goku was becoming unbearable.
Sanzo finally broke and banged his fist on the table. "Shut up!" He pressed his other hand to his head. "Just eat your damn food and stop being so noisy!"
Gojyo glanced over at Goku hanging his head over his plate. "Sheesh. The monkey's just happy to see his owner. Grouchy monk."
"Silence goes double for you," Sanzo snapped at him over Goku's mumbled denial that he was a monkey.
Gojyo scowled. "Hey! You were - Ow! Hakkai, quit kickin' me!"
Hakkai smiled. "Aha! Did I only kick you when I thought to break your legs?"
Gojyo looked at him in disbelief and closed his mouth.
Hakkai continued to smile and folded his hands on the table in front of him. "I think the others and myself feel it would be a good time to share our experiences in your absence, Sanzo."
Sanzo sighed and propped his chin on his hand. "Just get it over quickly. " He sounded bored.
Gojyo considered that maybe kicking people wasn't such a bad idea and thought about kicking Sanzo.
"Since you, and the gold card, were not with us, it was understandably a challenge to keep Goku at his healthiest. We needed money. Quickly." He added less seriously, "I even considered selling my body."
Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Because the kappa and the monkey are useless."
"No. Goku and Gojyo both found jobs. But, there were misunderstandings and those jobs didn't work out."
Sanzo took a breath and looked as if he might say something snide, but Hakkai held up a hand.
"Please let me continue, because the rest might be more important to you."
"There was a whole town of demons!" Goku blurted out.
Sanzo sat up and looked from Goku to Hakkai. "Unaffected by the Minus Wave?" He reached into the sleeve of his robe and cursed. "Dammit. Give me a cigarette." He held his hand out to Gojyo.
"Gojyo. No." Hakkai stopped him. "Sanzo, please don't smoke. It reduces the effects of my healing."
Sanzo hmphed. "You don't know that." And to Gojyo. "Hand it over."
Gojyo held the lighter and pack in his hand and hesitated, because he totally sympathized with Sanzo's nicotine cravings. But Hakkai had that thin-lipped and testy look on his face. He tried to reason with Hakkai. "Hey, it's just one. It's that smoker's bond, you know?"
"Gojyo, please don't listen to Sanzo."
Sanzo scowled. "Give me the cigarette or I will kill all of you in your sleep and smoke over your dead bodies! It's bad enough that I'm smoking this shitty brand!"
Gojyo knew danger when he saw it and it was coming from all directions. He threw the pack of cigarettes and lighter on the table. "I'm not doing anything!"
Sanzo snatched up the smokes and lit one.
Hakkai's gaze took on a laser sharp focus. "Gojyo."
"Gah!" Gojyo groaned and clasped his hands over his ears. "No lectures! Just make it quick and painless!"
"Save it for later." Sanzo smoked contentedly. "This town of demons," he prodded. "Were they affected or not?"
Hakkai turned his attention back to Sanzo. "Yes and no. They claimed they'd felt the effects. They compared it to a 'great awakening' of spirit, and felt they'd come to understand their true natures."
Sanzo glanced at Gojyo. "They didn't notice you were half?"
Gojyo shrugged, and, feeling that the danger had passed, reached for his cigarettes and lit one for himself. "They just said they hoped we found our 'true selves' soon."
"They were like normal people, Sanzo!" Goku started eating again. "We even worked in their shops and I sold a lot of stuff!"
Gojyo grinned as he remembered. "Yeah. Goku had his eye on this cutie with a bad attitude. She -"
"Stop." Goku laid his hand flat on the table. He didn't look at anyone. "Just-" He rested his forehead on his other hand and his shoulders slumped.
Gojyo felt a swell of guilt wash over him. For just a moment, he'd forgotten how hard Goku had taken her death. "Sorry, kid. Really. My bad." He glanced at Hakkai, but he was looking down into his cup. He looked at Sanzo.
Sanzo had the decency to look concerned; brows furrowed, head tilted and completely focused on Goku.
"Goku," said Sanzo. He even sounded concerned, and Gojyo wasn't sure whether to be worried or impressed.
Goku shrugged. "You know what? Maybe it wasn't that big a deal, right?" He looked up with a crooked and unfamiliar smile pasted on his face.
"What?" Gojyo dropped his cigarette on his plate. "What the hell kind of talk is that from you?"
Goku's smile quickly fell away. "Well, isn't that right?" His voice began to rise. "Isn't that what any of you guys would say?"
"Goku." Hakkai sounded as horrified as Gojyo felt.
Goku's chair scraped the floor as he stood; his angry frown marred by the sad tilt of his brow. "Am I wrong? Doesn't everything just work out?"
"Hell no, it doesn't!" Gojyo rose from his chair. He hated how Goku sounded, exchanging his naivety for a few classic bluffs.
"Then why do you keep pretending it does? All of you!" Goku pointed around the table. "Hakkai just smiles and gets scary! And you always say there'll be another day and another pretty girl! And Sanzo - you just ignore everything!"
"That's just shit I say!" Gojyo grasped for an explanation. "It doesn't mean anything!"
"Well, stop it! It pisses me off when I don't know if you guys mean it or not!" He clenched his fists and suddenly sat back down at the table. "I don't understand it! If we're supposed to be strong for each other, but really it means lying about how we feel, then I don't want to do it!" He grabbed his plate, dragged it closer and stared angrily down at it. "Dammit! I'm not even hungry now!"
Gojyo wanted to call him a stupid monkey, just for the hell of it, but bit his tongue. That was the kind of thing that would probably make it worse. He lowered himself back into his chair and glanced at Sanzo and Hakkai to see if they were going to say anything, but they both only watched Goku.
Sanzo tapped cigarette ashes off in his plate and finally spoke. "Goku."
Goku sounded sullen. "What?"
"I don't like to repeat myself. You live your life your own way. It's as simple as that."
Goku looked at him, his jaw set at a stubborn angle. "Are you just gonna keep saying that, or are you gonna do it for real?"
Gojyo choked back a sound of surprise. Hakkai didn't manage so well.
Sanzo's brows shot up, and then down into a frown. "I'll do as I damn well please!" He looked like he wanted to smack Goku across the head with his absent fan, repeatedly. "Eat your dinner!"
They glared at each other a moment, and then Goku's face broke into a grin. "Heheh! Okay, Sanzo!" He grabbed a container of noodles and scraped them onto his plate.
Gojyo looked at Hakkai. "What the hell just happened?" he muttered. Hakkai smiled and shrugged.
"Hakkai. Those demons." Sanzo interrupted. He took a final drag of his cigarette, put it out on his plate, and leaned back in his chair.
Hakkai eyed Sanzo's plate unhappily. "Yes, well. They were fighting with the humans over a water source. We tried to help them. Unfortunately, the town and its people were destroyed."
Sanzo looked at Goku for a long moment, but Goku didn't look up. He looked back at Hakkai. "I stopped in a human town with Hazel and Gat. The townspeople there were attacking the demons living on the other side of a mountain. They were also fighting for water."
Gojyo blew out a stream of smoke and, knowing how much Bishop Hazel had annoyed Sanzo, he teased him. "Eh, sounds like you were right next door to us." He held up his pinky. "Shacking up with your admirer."
Sanzo wasn't amused and looked Gojyo right in the eyes. "Remember you said that when I shoot you."
Gojyo wondered again, how much Sanzo remembered doing or saying when they'd been alone. Even when Gojyo teased Sanzo as normal, it was hard to tell. Gojyo smiled at him.
Sanzo curled his lip in disgust and looked back at Hakkai. "Enough. Let's talk about when we're leaving here."
"I suggest two weeks," said Hakkai, from over his teacup. "You're in horrible condition. Any of us could knock you over with a finger."
Sanzo's eyes narrowed. "I'd shoot you."
"Now is no time to mince words." Hakkai set his cup down. "You're helpless and you know it. We-"
"We are not staying here for two weeks!"
"Fine. But not less than a week. As your healer -"
"You!" Sanzo pointed his finger at Hakkai. "Can stay here a week! I'll damn well walk to India!"
Hakkai leaned back in his chair. "I see there's no reasoning with you. So be it." He stood up, strode over to the refrigerator and removed something from the top. He turned and held up a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.
"When you can walk over here under your own power, then you can have your tobacco and we'll discuss when we're leaving. Until that time," he looked at Gojyo and smiled. "If you share with Sanzo again, I'll have to punish you."
"What? Hakkai!" Gojyo looked incredulous. "It's not that serious a thing!" He looked at Sanzo for backup.
Sanzo's gaze bored into Hakkai with a murderous intent.
Hakkai looked unfazed and put the pack of smokes away and returned to the table. He picked up his plate and food containers and carried them back to the counter. "I'm quite serious about Sanzo healing." He set the plate in the sink. "Goku!" he said cheerfully. "Please help Sanzo back to bed so he may rest well! Gojyo, come help me clean, please."
Gojyo thought they all must be getting really good at this fighting, getting their asses kicked, and healing shit, because it only took two days. Two, long days of listening to Sanzo cuss, and fall over himself, and curse them all; Hakkai for holding his cigarettes ransom, Goku for being noisy, and Gojyo just for existing - and because he had cigarettes.
Gojyo's couch was at an angle where he could just see into Sanzo's room when the door was open. Or, alternately, Sanzo could watch Gojyo smoke.
The first hour Gojyo had teased him, Sanzo had lain on his bed and occasionally glared at Gojyo. When Gojyo did it again a few hours later, blowing smoking in Sanzo's direction and smiling, Sanzo had slowly smiled back, and then held up his gun and started shooting.
Hakkai was unable to confiscate the gun, so he hid the bullets.
So it had only taken two days, for Sanzo to find his own footing, because he was a determined bastard. Gojyo knew this, because it was the dawn of the third morning, and he'd been woken by the hard steel of Sanzo's gun pressed to his forehead.
"Sanzo?" Gojyo could see that he'd foregone his robes and actually gotten dressed in his jeans and black shirt.
Sanzo had one arm hooked over the back of the couch, so that he leaned over Gojyo. He put more pressure on the muzzle. Gojyo thought it was probably making a circular bruise at that very moment.
A lit cigarette dangled from his lips, and he wore a self-satisfied smirk. "You remember that crack you made about my 'admirer'?"
Gojyo swallowed. "Yeah."
Sanzo nodded. "And do you remember sitting right here waving your fucking cigarette at me?"
Gojyo saw opportunity. "No! I was waving the smoke in your direction!"
"Hn."
Gojyo felt certain it was a laugh.
Sanzo eased the gun off, transferred it to his other hand where it dangled muzzle down toward Gojyo. He used his free hand to smoke his cigarette, taking a deep drag and sighing it out. The smoke filtered up through the fringes of his hair and haloed around his head.
It reminded Gojyo of that other time when Sanzo had leaned over him, smug smile on his face, right before Sanzo had kissed him. Even now, Sanzo's eyes tracked from the spot Gojyo could still feel on his forehead, down to Gojyo's mouth. His gaze rested there a moment, and then he met Gojyo's eyes again.
His smile widened a little more, showing a hint of teeth. "I still haven't found my bullets," he said. And he straightened up with a wince, tucked his gun into the waistband of his jeans and took slow, but steady steps toward the back bedrooms.
Sanzo had woken Hakkai and Goku, demanded his bullets, demanded supplies be bought, and informed them all that he, Sanzo, was walking out that door, with or without them come the next morning.
They all lounged around the table after breakfast. Gojyo and Goku played a game of go fish. Hakkai made out a list of supplies they would need while traveling through the mountains, and tried to convince Sanzo that it was too soon to leave.
"Walking the first day does not mean you're healed, Sanzo. Another day or two - "
"I can walk. I can shoot. It's enough." He sat at the table cleaning his gun. "And tomorrow is one more day, " he pointed out. "I'm leaving."
"If we're not with you, I won't be able to continue healing you."
Sanzo lay the gun on the table, and picked up his cigarette from the ashtray and took a drag. "I got along fine before I met any of you. And I got along fine without an idiot parade trailing after me." He waved in Gojyo and Goku's direction.
"You had Hazel and Gat with you," Hakkai said. "And when we did meet again, you were anything but fine."
Gojyo laid down a pair of cards. "That Ukoku was about to finish you off if we hadn't shown up."
Sanzo's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything to that. He put out his cigarette and picked up his gun, giving it a final polish. "I know that bastard's power. I won't be taken by surprise again."
"He's not the only obstacle, Sanzo." Hakkai gestured with his pen. "There are still the mountains to cross to get to India."
"And don't forget demons," said Goku. "They were chasing us even when you weren't with us. They'll be after you."
"You won't make it without us," Hakkai finished.
"Then you underestimate me!" Sanzo glared at him and then loaded bullets into the chamber.
"We're just stating the facts, you pissy priest." Gojyo leaned over and tapped of the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray next to Sanzo.
Sanzo set down his gun again and turned on Gojyo. "I don't need a moron like you quoting facts to me, so shut your hole!"
Gojyo stared into that angry, stubborn gaze, and realized he'd had enough. "I'm tired of your bullshit!" He slapped his cards down and leaned closer. "I know my goddamn facts, so listen close, asshole. I know you cut and run when Goku was hurt. I know you left us in a pile of shit!" He pointed at Hakkai and Goku. "They both almost kicked it and that's a fact I know because you weren't there, you shitty excuse of a priest!"
They glowered at each other a moment and Gojyo saw from the corner of his eyes Sanzo's hand clenched over his gun.
"If this is some grudge-match you're holding, you're wasting your fucking time, kappa."
"I don't think so," Gojyo bit back.
"No. Because that would require thought on your part!"
"You're an asshole!" Gojyo leaned even closer. "You know, everyone else might treat you like you're holy and untouchable, but I got no problem rubbing your face in the dirt."
Sanzo suddenly schooled his face into calm. "Tch. You're so predictable. Get the hell away from me."
Gojyo growled and snatched a handful of robe, and Sanzo shoved the gun against Gojyo's chin. In the background, he could hear Hakkai and Goku shout their names.
"Tch! You're fucking predictable, too. Dick." Gojyo let go. He kicked away from his chair, jammed his cigarette in his mouth and ran a hand through his hair. "Fuck you. And fuck all this," he muttered. "Maybe I should leave this fucking 'idiot parade.'" He heard Hakkai's sound of dismay and ignored it.
Sanzo spoke in a bored voice."I'd never be so lucky as to be rid of a pesky cockroach."
Gojyo paced and clenched his fists. "Right. Whatever. That's how you want to play - pretend shit didn't happen. We're all good at it now! Go to hell." He dropped back into his chair and picked up his cards. "It's your turn, monkey."
Goku cast a glance between Sanzo and Gojyo. "I'm not a monkey, Gojyo."
Gojyo closed his eyes and turned his head away for a moment, because it sucked that they were all so out of balance that Goku wouldn't even fight with him. "Just take your turn," he mumbled. He glanced over at Hakkai and saw that he held his head in his hands, looking down at the table. He gave himself a mental kick and knew he'd have to try and make it up to his friend later.
"Whether it was yesterday, or tomorrow," Sanzo suddenly said, his voice somber. "Each of you should be strong enough to deal with anything that happens." His chair scraped as he stood up. "If I can't rely on you three to handle yourselves, then none of you are any good to me."
Gojyo scowled. "We did handle it!"
"Hn." Sanzo reached down and crushed out his cigarette. "Then you did what you were supposed to do." He left the room.
Gojyo fumed for a moment and took a sharp drag of his cigarette. "Of course we did!" he said to Sanzo's closed door. "What else -" He stopped as a crazy idea perched in his head. "Hakkai. Did he just say what I thought he said?" He looked again at his friend, who had his head up and brows raised.
Hakkai opened his mouth and hesitated. "Well, it sounded almost like he said that we did our jobs."
Gojyo shook his head. "That's impossible. That'd be like some sort of compliment or something, right?"
"I'm honestly not certain at this point, Gojyo. Goku?"
Goku shrugged. "Sounded like it to me. He does that sometimes." He pulled some cards from his hand. "Four of a kind, kappa! Ha!"
Dinner had been noisy and reasonably normal, and they'd made sure their shit was packed before going to bed, because Sanzo said they were leaving early.
Leaving early was the first thing that jumped to Gojyo's mind when he suddenly woke to the sensation of someone near his couch. He could see the bulk of Sanzo's robes hanging around his hips from the backlight coming from Sanzo's room.
Gojyo stretched an arm and rolled from his side onto his back. He closed his eyes and grumbled. "What the hell time is it?"
"After five." He crouched to Gojyo's level. "Give me your lighter. Mine's out."
Gojyo opened his eyes again and peered at Sanzo. "Shit. You woke me up for a lighter?" When Sanzo didn't answer, Gojyo swore again and dug his hands down into his pockets looking for it. The strong smell of smoke emanated from Sanzo, and Gojyo wondered briefly if he'd even gone to sleep or if he'd been up all night smoking.
He got the lighter out and fumbled to smack it into Sanzo's outstretched hand. Sanzo's fingers were cool where they touched Gojyo's palm. He took the lighter and worked slowly at removing a cigarette from his pack, and then he stilled and looked at Gojyo.
Gojyo blinked tiredly at him, and waited for his lighter. Because really, he could probably squeeze in another hour or more of sleep before Hakkai woke him. When, after a few seconds, Sanzo still hadn't moved, other than to turn his head to stare off towards his room, Gojyo felt a touch of concern. It didn't matter that they'd been fighting hours ago, because that shit was always old news. Gojyo had no problems with setting aside his gripes when things didn't look good.
Maybe Sanzo had sat around worrying all night about being back on the road. Or maybe he'd been having nightmares and woken up, just as he had the last few nights. Maybe he'd been having nightmares that wouldn't even let him go to sleep. The whole business with Ukoku had been pretty scary after all. It would be awful to forget your life or the people you cared about, and Sanzo had come close to it. Not that Sanzo ever admitted that he cared about anything.
Gojyo pondered that just a moment longer. Maybe there were things Sanzo would want to forget. Things like kissing Gojyo. And there was a depressing thought. Gojyo had gone all the past months, occasionally thinking about what it was like to kiss Sanzo, and know there was more to him than anger and indifference. Gojyo was comfortable with the simple knowledge that it had happened at all. Sometimes he thought it would have been nice for Sanzo to acknowledge it, but Gojyo recognized that with their ability to miscommunicate, they'd probably handled it the only way they could.
But there were times like this, when he wanted to be able to do something to seem helpful. And he suddenly and desperately wanted Sanzo to remember.
"You know..." He leaned up on his elbow and his hair fell over his face. He pushed it back. "I didn't forget. What we did after the fireworks." He wondered if Sanzo really wouldn't remember, or if he would even acknowledge it.
"It was a stupid thing to do," said Sanzo, quietly.
"Maybe." Gojyo pushed away a giddy heartbeat of joy, but allowed himself a smile. "But it was good."
Sanzo hmphed, and his chin dipped towards the floor. When he looked up, he looked at Gojyo. "Maybe," he echoed in resigned amusement. He leaned forward and paused, as if he might have second thoughts. And then he closed the distance and pressed their mouths together.
All hesitation gone, the kiss was firm and bold, and Gojyo leaned into it, welcoming a provocative slide of tongue. He realized belatedly that his own mouth tasted sour with sleep and Sanzo's bitter with too much tobacco, but the tartness dissipated as quickly as the thought. Gojyo broke their kiss. "Shit, c'mon," he said, as he kicked the blanket down and reached for Sanzo.
The lighter clattered onto the floor and Sanzo climbed onto the couch, kneeling over him and kissing him hard. Gojyo could feel the heat seeping through Sanzo's jeans where he straddled him over the thighs. His own legs were bare, and the little rocking motions that Sanzo made created a delicious tingle along his skin. With one hand on Sanzo's arm, Gojyo dug under the hem of Sanzo's robe with his other. He found the back of Sanzo's thigh, and ran his hand up and squeezed. Sanzo moaned against his mouth.
It felt good, fucking better than before. Gojyo was already half-erect from sleep, hardening further as Sanzo moved to kiss along his jaw and down his neck. "Shit," Gojyo whispered. He didn't know what had kept Sanzo awake all night, but Gojyo could sense from the urgent way Sanzo kissed that there was a lot going on under the surface.
"Hey."
"What?" Sanzo mouthed against his neck.
And what could he say that wouldn't piss Sanzo off? Asking if he were okay would be a sure way to do it. "Nevermind."
"Then why the hell are you talking?"
"Maybe my mouth wasn't busy," Gojyo snapped, and was cut off from saying more as Sanzo kissed him. "I just -" And again. "You -" Sanzo only kissed him harder. His hand peeled Gojyo's shirt up, skated over his chest to play with one of Gojyo's nipples, and Gojyo stopped thinking about - whatever the hell. "Mm."
He wrapped his arms around Sanzo and pulled him down. Rolled them both to the side so that Sanzo was trapped between his body and the back of the couch, and then he arched against him. Sanzo moaned loudly and moved with it, rocking his hips right up against Gojyo's and creating a delicious friction.
For a few long moments, Gojyo just revelled in the sensations of having a body against his, in touching and being touched, in ways that didn't involve fighting for his life. He worked one hand into the back of Sanzo's jeans and cupped his ass, feeling the muscle flex with their movements.
Sanzo shifted his legs and captured one of Gojyo's between his own, and he rode it, his erection rock hard and bruising through the denim. Gojyo pulled him in closer which each thrust, because, fuck, Sanzo's hip made a damn good pressure point for his own hard-on. And then they were rutting in a friction loaded counterpoint, panting and sucking and moaning against each other's throats.
Gojyo thought he could come like this, wanted to come like this, with Sanzo wrapped up tight against him and willing and wanting. Wanting Gojyo. He slid their mouths together again, and Sanzo suddenly shook, and pulled away with a gasp.
Sanzo stilled and moaned. "Shit." And then rocked forward hard. "Oh, shit." And Gojyo could just see where the light touched his face, the way Sanzo's eyes squeezed shut as he started to come, the way his lips parted as his breath turned ragged. Sanzo's fingers dug into his shoulders and Gojyo pulled him into his arms and let him ride it out. He could feel the heat, and then damp, seep through Sanzo's jeans and onto his thigh, and oh, shit, god, Sanzo had just come on him.
"Fuck." Gojyo bucked against Sanzo and Sanzo's hands came down onto his hips and encouraged him. Shit, too good, he wasn't far. Just, there, and maybe yeah, and - Sanzo's grip turned rigid, stopping him in place.
"Shit! What?" Gojyo opened his eyes, and realized with some mortification that he could see Sanzo's wide-eyed face cast in the pale green glow of Hakkai's chi. From the back of the couch, Jeep's curious visage peered down at them.
"Kyu?"
Hakkai's voice came from somewhere above and behind him. "Jeep came to inform me that something was wrong."
Gojyo didn't bother turning around, and simply dropped his head back down. "Shit," he muttered, even as his dick ached unhappily. He looked at Sanzo, whose look of surprise quickly turned into a scowl, which thankfully, was directed toward Hakkai.
Hakkai took another breath. "And, having now seen the situation...I think I agree with him. This is quite unexpected." His chi ball dissipated. Gojyo heard his footsteps crossed the room into the kitchen, where he flicked on the light.
"Move." Sanzo was already pushing at Gojyo, climbing over him to get away.
Gojyo sighed and rolled onto his stomach and pressed his aching dick into the cushions, just once, because he didn't want to be accused of humping the furniture. He folded his arms under his head and turned to look at Hakkai, who still stood by the light switch with a bemused look on his face.
Sanzo sat on the edge of the couch and concentrated on jerking his tangled robe out from under Gojyo's legs. Gojyo didn't help.
Hakkai continued. "My first thought, of course, was that we were under attack." Hakkai smiled a bit. "Which might be true, depending on the interpretation."
Sanzo sighed in irritation and gave one more hard pull on his robe, finally freeing it.
"And I could entertain the dubious idea that the two of you were having some sort of fight. It certainly wouldn't be the first time you've rolled about hitting each other. But that didn't appear -"
Sanzo cut him off. "Yes. We were fighting."
Hakkai was silent a long moment, and then he licked his lips and smiled. He didn't look as if he believed a word of it. "So early? And what for?"
Sanzo huffed. "Get that look off your face. I just needed a light." And seeming to realize what he'd said, he bent over and picked up the fallen lighter and his wayward pack of tobacco.
"A light?" Hakkai's smile widened. "And - and so -" He started to chuckle. "What? You thought you'd rub two sticks together?" He burst into a peal of laughter. "Perhaps generate some sparks?"
"Tch! Your humor is tasteless." Sanzo pulled out a cigarette and lit it, stood up, and dropped the lighter on Gojyo's back and walked to his room.
Hakkai smiled with mischief and looked at Gojyo. "Yes, I suppose I'm just ' fanning the flames.'" And he burst into another round of laughter and turned away to start their day.
Gojyo groaned and covered his head with his hands. "Hakkai!"
"Guys! Just tell me what's going on!" Goku whined as set his packed bag by the front door next to the others. "Hakkai's been smiling all morning, and you're just sitting there not sayin' nothin'!"
Sanzo sat at the table, smoking and looking over their map and ignoring Goku.
Gojyo lounged on the couch and smoked and continued to say nothing, because it wasn't his place to inform the monkey about anything that his owner was doing.
"I believe we have everything!" Hakkai came from the back of the house. "Jeep is waiting outside and we can head out now if you're ready, Sanzo."
"Good." Sanzo removed his glasses and tucked them somewhere into his robe. He stood and started to fold the map.
"Sanzo!" Goku blocked his movement. "I won't stop asking 'til you tell me!" He stared hard at Sanzo.
Gojyo was reminded of a few nights ago when Goku had looked at Sanzo so stubbornly. The monkey had a way with the priest that Gojyo and Hakkai had discussed and never quite fathomed. He watched curiously as Sanzo stopped and stared back.
"Well?" Goku prodded.
Sanzo's eyes narrowed. "Tch! You're annoying." He continued to fold the map again. "I was caught."
"Huh? Caught? What'd'ya mean -" Goku stopped and sucked in a breath. "You mean? But - you didn't go out last night. Did you?"
Gojyo sat up, because the conversation was a whole lot more interesting than he thought it'd be. Was Goku suggesting he actually knew that Sanzo wasn't celibate? So all those years that Gojyo had teased Sanzo, Goku already knew? Gojyo took a long hard drag of his cigarette. He was going to smack the monkey good for not letting him in on that. And how could Goku even keep that kind of secret? Damn.
"I was here all night," Sanzo answered. He finished folding the map together and held it out in Hakkai's direction.
Hakkai took it and moved to go put it bag in their bags. When he passed Gojyo, Hakkai raised an eyebrow in shared surprise.
Goku blinked, waited, and when nothing more was said, he seemed to come to his own conclusion. His eyes grew huge and he turned and looked at Hakkai, probably, Gojyo thought, because Hakkai had been the smiley one.
Gojyo followed his gaze, and saw Hakkai raise his hands up in innocence. Shit, bastard. Gojyo darted his eyes back to Goku.
Goku's eyes grew even rounder, and his mouth dropped open. "Hah? You?" And like Hakkai before, Goku's face split into a slow grin until he burst into laughter.
"Ooh-wahah! Sanzo! With Gojyo?" Goku laughed so hard he rocked on his heels. He pointed at Sanzo. "You must have been desperate!"
Gojyo knew when he heard it, that Goku didn't intend it to be hurtful. But just hearing that Sanzo might only have come to him out of desperation was enough to make something sink a little in his stomach. Gojyo glanced back at Sanzo.
Sanzo's shoulders heaved with a sigh of annoyance, but he otherwise didn't react to Goku's energetic teasing. He was seemingly relaxed in general, which in that case, Gojyo decided, he'd done what he set out to do. And that was take Sanzo's mind off his worries. He could at least feel good about that.
Goku abruptly stopped laughing. "Wait! I thought Gojyo only liked girls?"
"Indeed," Hakkai answered. "In fact you might even say Gojyo must be the one with desperate desires."
"Hakkai." Gojyo wasn't sure whether to be upset that Hakkai was still poking fun at him, or thankful that his friend had turned the desperation around to his favor.
Goku looked back and forth between Sanzo and Gojyo and then laughed again and shook his head. "You're both that desperate? Man, you guys are pathetic!"
"What?" Gojyo blinked hard, because, holy hell, the monkey was calling him pathetic? He jumped to his feet, but Sanzo beat him to it.
"Shut the hell up!" Sanzo whipped out his fan and smacked Goku repeatedly. "Brainless, idiot, monkey!" Goku curled up on the floor, yelling "Ow-ow!" between his bouts of giggles. Sanzo's fan suddenly broke and he slung it onto the table. "Goddammit! I need a new fan!"
Hakkai's smile was full of mirth. "Of course, Sanzo. I'll add it to the list right under 'new lighter.'"
The mountains, Gojyo decided, took second place as most hated terrain, right behind the desert, and only second because the mountains sometimes had little streams of water. Otherwise, they were alternately humid in the valleys, freezing at the peaks, and still too dry. And they were a bitch to climb. He was exhausted and none of them had bathed or shaved in days.
The ikkou had finished another grueling day hiking amongst the steepest mountains yet. At last, he finished gathering the extra firewood for Hakkai. They were going to camp on a generously wide ledge that was mostly protected from the constant breeze. Hakkai wanted to try and give them a hot meal.
Gojyo dropped the sticks into a pile a few feet from the fire Hakkai had started. Sanzo was currently skinning a rabbit that Jeep had captured and brought back. Goku had originally been grossed out by the process, but was now watching with curiosity. Gojyo adjusted the wool blanket he wore over his shoulders and watched Sanzo.
Over the past few weeks, Gojyo had determined that Sanzo's cool demeanor wasn't going to change towards Gojyo just because of a heavy petting session. Prickly and standoffish seemed to be his natural state, and only twice did Gojyo see Sanzo look at him in a way that suggested heat. Gojyo had started to think that Sanzo's description of himself as opportunistic meant 'when Sanzo felt like it', and was less about actual opportunity presenting itself.
Gojyo was okay with it though. Mostly. There was something intriguing in knowing the monk had an interest in him. He just wished he knew a little better if it was more than a physical interest. Because Gojyo suspected that he held more than just a physical interest in Sanzo. It felt like being young and stupid and hopeful all over again - back when he thought that kindness and attention might mean love, only to learn that it was pity. And when he grew older, that it was just another way of getting laid.
He knew there was something crucial missing in his emotional scope of understanding people, but damned if he could pin it down. What he did know was that he didn't want pity. And that the desire to get laid, had been replaced by the desire to get closer to the monk. But Sanzo was having none of that. Gojyo found himself adrift, unable to use his flirtatious methods and pick up lines to coax Sanzo into - well, it wasn't just sex Gojyo wanted. Gojyo wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish since they were already in proximity, day in and out.
He chewed his lip and watched as Sanzo instructed Goku on how to hold the rabbit by the legs while Sanzo peeled the skin down and off its body like it was a shirt. Goku gagged dramatically and turned his head away.
"Sanzo's surprisingly good at that, isn't he?" Hakkai stepped up beside Gojyo. They both watched as Sanzo gutted their dinner. "He must have been quite resourceful when he lived on his own."
Gojyo fingered the cigarettes in his pocket. It was his last pack and Hakkai had suggested this morning that it might be another three days; before they saw civilization, and before they could shower and shave. This close, Gojyo could smell Hakkai. Iit was unpleasant, but he knew he smelled just as bad. He really wanted to smoke.
Hakkai reached over and pushed Gojyo's hair away from his face where it was caught in the heavy stubble covering his chin. "I see that look again."
Gojyo brushed Hakkai's hand away, and the wind blew his hair back across his cheek "What look?" He pulled his gaze from Sanzo and concentrated on getting out his cigarettes.
"Well, I'd say it's something akin to infatuation?" Hakkai touched his hair again, this time tucking it behind Gojyo's ear. He smiled. "A crush?"
Gojyo glanced up and rolled his eyes at Hakkai. He removed a stick of tobacco and fished around his pockets for his lighter. He found it and flicked it open. "Is that what it looks like?" He cupped his hands around the flame, lit the tip of his cigarette and snapped the case closed.
"Sometimes, yes."
"Well, it's not." Gojyo exhaled the words, uncertain if they were true. "Don't daydream me into some sort of drama."
Hakkai laughed. "Aha, yes. I admit, on long trails, I have entertained myself by imagining the petty arguments you two would have as a couple."
"Hakkai. Don't imagine shit like that. Seriously."
"I'm serious also. I worry about you. You two have had a volatile friendship, and I worry that antagonism will carry over into other aspects of your...relationship."
"There's no relationship. Nothing even going on. So there's nothing for you to worry about."
"Mm. Yes, that worries me, too."
"Why?" Gojyo scratched at the bristles along his chin and jaw, rubbed his fingers across the hair above his lip. "I feel like a damn yeti," he grumbled, but Hakkai ignored his ploy at redirection.
"That there's nothing going on." Hakkai looked from Gojyo back to Sanzo. "I think you want there to be."
"Ah." Gojyo shrugged and followed Hakkai's gaze. Sanzo carried the innards over to a scrubby-looking tree where Jeep was roosting. He dropped some gut and meat at the foot of the tree, said something to Jeep, and walked away to grab the carcass. He carried it toward where they stood, Goku trailing behind.
Gojyo looked back at Hakkai and shrugged again. "I'm just along for the ride." He set his cigarette in his mouth, stepped closer to the fire and held his hands near the heat. Behind him, he heard Hakkai thank Sanzo for cleaning the rabbit.
Hakkai took it to the pot set up on the other side of the fire, placed it inside, and began to cover it with wild onions and roots.
Gojyo felt, more than heard, when Sanzo came up to his left; the constant breeze buffered by his standing so close.
"Goku! Get the water," Sanzo said. He leaned closer to Gojyo, bumping his shoulder. "Give me a drag."
Gojyo took a quick puff and handed the cigarette to Sanzo. "Out of those crapsticks you call cigarettes?" He could smell Sanzo, too. He thought again about a shower, thought about Sanzo in the shower, and then thought Hakkai might be right about that infatuation thing.
"Don't want to waste them." Sanzo smoked. "This is more convenient." His hands were smeared red with drying blood.
Gojyo wondered if Sanzo put his hands in Gojyo's hair, if Sanzo would be able to tell the difference in the colors. And then he realized what Sanzo had said. "Tch! So you'll waste mine instead?"
"Here ya go, Sanzo!" Goku held up the thermos, ready to pour over Sanzo's hands.
"Idiot. Over the pot. We can boil the rinse water for broth." Sanzo took a final puff, handed back the cigarette and gave Gojyo a considering look. "Thanks," he murmured on a cloud of smoke, and stepped over to Goku and Hakkai and washed the blood into their meal.
Gojyo wasn't familiar with the kind of look Sanzo had just given him, but it was a look he wouldn't mind seeing again.
The three days following were a nightmare as Gojyo and Sanzo both were overcome with altitude sickness. Gojyo wondered if he might die from the nausea before they made it down the mountain. And when Hakkai started feeling ill, Gojyo was pretty sure they were done for. Luckily, they were found by the locals and taken to a temple, where relief came in the form of a revolting medicinal drink.
Their first day at the mountain temple had been a welcome respite from their travels. They'd all been given draughts of medicine to curb their altitude sickness. They met their third Sanzo, Sharak. And they even had to fight one more horde of demons; a horde that wasn't even looking for their Sanzo. But best of all, that night, they'd been able to bathe and clean up and sleep on soft beds.
Gojyo had continued to feel ill off and on through the night and into the next day. Just some minor nausea and dizziness that didn't bear mentioning, because he really did not want to be subjected to that disgusting concoction again. Hakkai and Sanzo seemed to have fared better, or, like Gojyo, they were just hiding the residual effects. And if Hakkai had caught on to Gojyo's continued bouts of unwellness, he hadn't mentioned it. In fact, Gojyo had made it through the whole day without Hakkai noticing his sickness.
He'd even felt well enough for the last few hours to talk Hassan into getting him some more of the wine they'd had the previous night. Hassan also mentioned that their two Sanzos had wandered out to the cliffside lookouts, and Gojyo detected a hint of jealousy when Hassan said it. It made perfect sense to tell the guy that Gojyo might wander that direction himself; Hassan seemed more cheerful for it.
Gojyo strolled outside. The temple grounds were plateaued and most of the terrain about it was of steep and irregular descents. Just ahead was a large stone marking a well-worn path that wound its way uphill. He followed the footpath past thick shrub, reedy grasses, and compact, unfamiliar trees.
He lit a cigarette as he walked, feeling exceptionally relaxed. He couldn't pinpoint the last time he'd been so at ease, but it seemed to have been years ago. He felt loose-limbed and quick, kind of how sometimes when he'd been thieving and he'd had to run for his life and leap over walls and shit - like flying on adrenaline. He smiled to himself. That shit'd been so long ago, and he'd been such a punk.
He could see where the woods opened up ahead, and knew there must be some sort of clearing. He quickened his steps, just for the hell of it, and hit the next plateau running. The early evening sun glowed warm contrast to the chill air blowing in from all directions.
The wind felt good, and he stopped and took deep breaths of it. He'd broken out in another round of sweat from that brief jog, and some of the dizziness returned and his stomach roiled, and then was gone again. He looked around for a comfortable place to sit and noticed the path turned back and down. He followed it a few steps. He spotted Sanzo, but he didn't see any sign of Sharak.
As it looked as if he'd intruded on Sanzo meditating, Gojyo took a step backward, but Sanzo seemed to sense his presence.
"They gave you alcohol?" Sanzo looked at the bottle Gojyo held.
"Eh, Hassan thought I might get thirsty walking around out here."
"Hmph. He sent you out here looking for Sharak." Sanzo turned back around to gaze at the valley below.
Gojyo shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for keeping track of what he likes." He strolled over and dropped to the ground near Sanzo. Sanzo coolly looked him up and down as he smoked a cigarette. Gojyo realized with mild embarrassment that his comment could apply to himself as well.
Sanzo took the bottle from Gojyo. "She was showing me the areas under her protection." He took a few sips and passed it back. Gojyo took a long drink for himself.
Sanzo looked calm, and about as relaxed as Gojyo had felt a few moments ago. Gojyo wondered if it was the security of being at a temple, or if it had something to do with Sharak Sanzo. Because since they'd been there, Sanzo had been respectful, almost thoughtful in his words, and he had a calm, and sharply observant curiosity about him. And although Gojyo had seen Sanzo behave that way in the past, it usually never lasted more than a few minutes. Gojyo wondered if two days of that sort of respectful behavior would eventually break him.
Gojyo took a long drag of his cigarette, and then he smiled at Sanzo and raised his pinky finger. "So was that all she showed you?"
"Tch! Don't be vulgar!" Sanzo whipped out the fan and smacked Gojyo on the ear. "Another word and I'll shoot you."
"Ow! I only asked what -."
"Don't insinuate shit!" Sanzo swung the fan again but Gojyo leaned out of the way. Sanzo 'hmphed' and tucked the fan away.
Gojyo smiled and tipped his head back and smoked. The sky was a clear and darkening shade of blue, and just around the edges he could see some green dividing it from the gold. There was still plenty of sunlight though, and he sat up again and looked out past the plateau. Down below, he could see one of the villages under the temple protection. They weren't that far away really, and he could make out the villagers going about their evening activities. Just outside the village, some herders were bringing in their small flock of sheep, and he could hear the shouts that kept them moving.
"Everything looks so normal from up here," Gojyo observed, and he stretched out his legs. "Like nothing bad has touched this place." He heard Sanzo make a noise of acknowledgment, and then there was a wooden clickity sound that Gojyo had heard several times since they'd come up to and through the mountains.
He looked over, and sure enough, Sanzo grasped an object with a short wooden handle and a brass engraved cylinder fitted on top. The clicking noise he'd heard was a chain and bead dangling from the cylinder. Gojyo had seen a lot of people holding these things - Hakkai had told Goku they were wheels or something. Sanzo seemed to be studying the one he held.
"You've got a wheel. That's the fashion around these parts, isn't it?"
"Hn." Sanzo ran his fingers over the engravings, turning the cylinder just a little. When he let go, the counterweight of the bead pulled it back. He held it up closer to where Gojyo could see it.
"They're prayer wheels - filled with mantras. And each rotation..." He gave a flick of his wrist and the little bead swung around as the cylinder turned. "...is equal to a prayer. Or a million prayers. There are supposed to be millions of mantras inside."
"Huh." Gojyo stuck his cigarette in his mouth and took the prayer wheel. He shook it next to his ear and thought he could make out a paper rustling sound inside. He held it up and gave it a shake, and it spun once. "Kind of convenient to say your prayers without any of the work."
Sanzo withdrew his pack of cigarettes and lit one. "Someone like you would think that way," he muttered over exhaled smoke.
"What? I'm just saying -"
"They were created to give the illiterate, and the young, a way to recite prayers. Saying them ensures continued blessings."
Gojyo pulled the last drag off his smoke and flicked the butt away. "Well that explains why everyone seems to have these." He flicked his wrist the way he'd seen Sanzo do it and set the cylinder in motion. The counterweight swung jerkily as he held it away from himself.
"Tch. Give it here." Sanzo reached over and Gojyo held it further away.
"Hey! I'm playing with it right now."
"It's not a damn toy!" But then he sighed and withdrew his hand. "Spin it clockwise."
Gojyo raised a brow, but Sanzo didn't explain. Gojyo reversed his spin. "So when it's spinning, just what am I blessing anyway?" He grinned. "Maybe I could be a priest, too."
"Don't say stupid shit like that." Sanzo shook his head and smoked for a moment as they both watched the wheel. The edges of the engravings flashed in the fading sunlight.
"The mantra is on the side," he started to say. "The engravings on the top and the bottom..." He paused to take another drag of his smoke before flicking it after Gojyo's. "When you spin the wheel, you're blessing everything above the earth, and everything beneath the sky."
Gojyo let the wheel slow to a stop and he looked back out toward the village and the sinking sun. "That's pretty big stuff for something that looks like a tinker toy." He looked over and could see Sanzo deliberately ignore his comment.
Sanzo leaned back on his hands. "It blesses the person making the prayers as well. Removes the bad karma and replaces it with healing energy so they might have some sort of 'great awakening' of spirit."
Gojyo sighed. "When you learn new shit, do you have to make the rest of us learn it? Because we've already got Hakkai for that." Gojyo held up the prayer wheel and started spinning it again. "It's just kind of fun to spin it, you know." He added as an afterthought, "Goku would love it."
Sanzo bit off a curse as he sat up. He whipped his fan from his robe and smacked Gojyo over the shoulder. "Do you have to be deliberately thick-headed all the time?"
"Ow!" Gojyo rubbed at the spot, and then laughed. "Heh. Well, if you haven't noticed - I'm the one having fun. Sanzo-sama." He looked back at the wheel in his hand and gave it a flip in the air. Watching it spin over itself was dizzying and he caught it upside down, but held it triumphantly anyway.
"You - just put it down!" Sanzo reached over and snatched it away. He set it to his other side. "It's this sort of idiocy that caused you and Goku to break those temple relics." He grumbled something else that Gojyo didn't catch, and then sighed and dug into the sleeves of his robe.
Gojyo watched him for a moment, noting that despite the grumbling, Sanzo still wasn't in a bad mood, for Sanzo. And they had an almost untouched bottle, and a darkening sky, and most important, they were unlikely to be disturbed. Gojyo wasn't off his game enough to not take advantage.
Knowing there'd be a risk that Sanzo might choose to ignore any advance, Gojyo reached over and plucked away the cigarette Sanzo was lighting.
"What the -!" Sanzo grabbed his wrist tightly and glared at him. And then the lines around his eyes and mouth relaxed and he let go. "Hn. What are you playing at now?"
Gojyo couldn't keep the flicker of surprise from his face, and a stirring excitement raced through him.
Sanzo smirked.
"Well, goddamn." Gojyo leaned over and slid his hand behind Sanzo's neck and pulled him closer. "I'm thinking those blessings worked."
Sanzo's brows came down in exasperation, but Gojyo didn't give him time to complain and pressed their mouths together in a languid kiss. It quickly escalated as Sanzo slid both arms around him and pulled him down. Gojyo straddled the length of him. And shit, he had really thought Sanzo would be more hesitant, just as he had last time. Last time, when they'd quietly - mostly quietly - fooled around on the couch. But no, Sanzo laid claim to his mouth again, taking over the kiss and thrusting up against Gojyo, sliding his hands up under Gojyo's shirt and holding onto him. Gojyo wanted more.
"Shit, wait." Gojyo hauled himself up to stand on his knees and tugged off his coat. His excitement grew when he saw that Sanzo had quickly followed suit, working on the sash of his robe.
"Sit up." Gojyo threw his jacket on the ground where Sanzo's head had been, and then he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. The chill air raised gooseflesh over skin and he shivered as he got it over his head. And then he felt Sanzo's mouth on his stomach and he gasped.
He looked down. The sliver of moon coming up behind the mountains lit Sanzo's hair a pale blue and Gojyo watched his head bob as Sanzo nuzzled his mouth lower, sucking and biting at the skin. Gojyo dropped his shirt and trailed his fingers into that softness, down his neck and under his robe. He lifted it off Sanzo's shoulders and Sanzo pulled his arms out, reached for the hem of his own shirt. He pulled it up his chest.
Gojyo grabbed his arms and stopped him from removing it. "Just like that." Because Sanzo looked debauched only half dressed. "Yeah." He bent over and kissed him, lowering Sanzo back to the ground and pressing his mouth against Sanzo's chest where his shirt rode up under his armpits.
Sanzo wasn't touching him, but Gojyo could feel his arms moving, doing something above - and then he felt the soft drape of fabric falling onto his back and slithering off his side. And then Sanzo's bare arms were sliding along the skin of his back, and Gojyo moaned again, because he'd forgotten how good skin on skin felt.
He lowered himself over Sanzo again, slipped their legs between each other, and settled their chests together. The shock of all that skin made him shudder and he clutched Sanzo tighter and ground their hips together. Sanzo panted against his ear, digging fingers into his arm and shoulder and met his thrusts
Gojyo's erection was wedged in a near perfect spot, and he could feel Sanzo rigid against his hip and it was so, so good - best thing ever, best feeling ever. No one he'd ever bedded - nothing came close to this. Maybe because he hadn't cared about any of them. At least, he cared for Sanzo more than he'd cared for anyone else. He couldn't call it love, because he wasn't sure he knew what that was. But this, this feeling - he could do so much more for Sanzo, and he reached down between them and started plucking at the button of Sanzo's jeans.
Gojyo's weight shifted and Sanzo gasped. "Goddamn, you're heavy. Roll over."
Gojyo rolled, pulling Sanzo with him. Small rocks dug into his back.
Sanzo straddled Gojyo's hips and sat up. He worked at the button and fly of his jeans, got them open and pulled himself out. He gave himself a slow stroke and pressed the heel of his other hand against Gojyo's erection.
Gojyo's hands were on Sanzo's thighs, but he was spurred back into action with that delicious pressure against his dick. He ran a hand up Sanzo's hips, across his belly and down to his jutting cock. Sanzo moved his own hand away, rocked up on his knees and surged into Gojyo's grip. Gojyo was mesmerized by the image of Sanzo above him; half-naked, arms down at his sides and his head bowed as he thrust lazily into Gojyo's fist.
"Shit." Gojyo reached with his other hand for the fly of his own jeans, worked at getting them open, unable to take his eyes off Sanzo moving over him. Sanzo tipped forward and Gojyo met him halfway, leaning up to meet his kiss. Sanzo moaned loudly against his mouth, and the sudden wetness of precome slicked Gojyo's grip.
Gojyo groaned. "Shit. Shit, Sanzo. Goddamn." He finally worked himself free from the confines of his jeans and squeezed.
Sanzo sat back on Gojyo thighs and brushed Gojyo's hand from his dick to replace it with his own again. "I could fuck you," Sanzo said, low and throaty.
Gojyo hesitated, because that was an intense image. He had himself in hand and stroked slow and long. He almost felt bad when he finally said, "No."
Sanzo didn't react, just continued to fondle himself. And then his mouth curved up a little. "Same here. So don't ask."
Gojyo had to grin. "Yeah."
Sanzo leaned down and they kissed again, all tongue, and teeth, and small sounds of pleasure. And then Sanzo sat back up, and rocked into his own hand. "I'm going to come."
Gojyo rolled his hips underneath him, fucking his own hand. "You going to come on me again?"
Sanzo gasped out a breath and shuddered. "Yeah," he groaned out. "Fuck. Yeah." And then he was coming, spilling over Gojyo's fist, and then his stomach, as he fell over onto one hand, barely holding himself up.
Gojyo swore softly and jerked himself harder, Sanzo's spend making it that much better. He could just see Sanzo over him, looking down at him. Sanzo leaned in and kissed him, wet and lazy with post-orgasmic bliss and that was all it took. Gojyo's orgasm washed through him in a hard wave. He felt Sanzo smear their come up his chest and Gojyo came harder, could hear the scrape of his boots in the dirt as he bucked with the force of it. Sanzo's tongue was in his mouth again and Gojyo returned the kiss as he came down. He let himself sprawl out and heaved a sigh. "Fuck."
Sanzo was already alert and ahead of him. He reached over to grab Gojyo's shirt. He wiped his hands and the rest of himself off and dropped the shirt onto Gojyo's stomach. "They'll look for us soon if they're not already."
"Yeah." Gojyo continued to lay there, but grabbed the shirt and mopped up the mess.
Sanzo fished his smokes from his robe, lit one, and started to redress himself.
Gojyo sighed again and rolled to grab his coat since he didn't have a shirt to put on. He slipped that into his coat pocket, found his cigarettes and lit one. On the ground still lay the prayer wheel. He picked it up and slipped it into his other pocket.
Sanzo stood at the start of the path back to the temple.
Gojyo strolled over. "Hey."
"What?" Sanzo already wore his shuttered don't-mess-with-me look.
Gojyo kissed him.
They walked back to the temple, passing the bottle of wine back and forth between them and not talking.
The temple interior was warm and permeated with the smell of the evening meal. From down the corridor, Goku ran up, with Hakkai just behind him.
"Where were you guys? We were coming to get you for dinner."
Gojyo shoved his hands into his pockets, looking for the prayer wheel as he walked.
Goku stopped. "Why are you guys all dirty?"
Sanzo stopped and Gojyo nearly ran into him.
"Indeed, you are," said Hakkai, and then did a double take. "Gojyo? Where is your shirt?"
Gojyo shrugged. "I got it."
Hakkai raised a brow. He waved in the direction of Gojyo's body. "Well, the dirt is certainly visible."
Gojyo tsked. "We're in the frickin' mountains. There's a lot of dirt!" He straightened and watched as Hakkai circled around behind him. When he emerged back in front, he laughed.
"It doesn't mean you have to roll in it, Gojyo. Really." And he tutted airily. "You need to go clean up."
Sanzo remained still, silent, and wary. But it didn't seem he would get off any easier, because now that Hakkai was done inspecting Gojyo, he opened his arms wide.
"And you, Sanzo. A holy man..."
"Tch!" Sanzo scratched at his ear and looked bored. "Save your scandalous words."
Hakkai simply chuckled. "Then back to our rooms quickly."
Goku grabbed Sanzo's arm as he walked. "Wait! Does this mean we'll be late for dinner?"
Sanzo jerked his arm away, and smacked him with the fan. "Don't start that noise!"
Gojyo found the prayer wheel and pulled it out. "Hey, monkey." He held it up and gave it a spin.
"Whoa! Cool!" Goku's eyes lit up and he laughed and grabbed it from Gojyo. "Hakkai told me all about these. Look at it go!" He bounced around in front of them as they walked.
Gojyo nudged Sanzo. "You'll have to get another for yourself."
"I have no use for it."
Gojyo shrugged. "Eh, well. I knew he'd like it."
"So did you." Sanzo smirked. "Simple minds like simple toys."
"Tch! The hell!" Gojyo stopped. Hakkai came up beside him and they fell into step together.
"So." Hakkai clasped his hands behind his back. "I suppose I could entertain myself with happy endings for you now."
"Hakkai. Don't tell me anymore."
"Of course, Gojyo." He smiled warmly. " I haven't seen you most of the day. I forgot to ask if you're feeling better."
Gojyo thought about it. The altitude sickness was gone, and that thing going on with Sanzo - whatever it was, it was kinda nice. He smiled back and nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling good."
All in all, he felt better than he had in a long time.
* * end * *
.