Pairings/Characters: Hakkai/Gojyo, Genjo Sanzo, Son Goku
A/N: Written for chomiji as part of my Help the Philippines fanfiction commission thingy. I hope you like it *wrings fingers* As is my norm, this one sort of got out of hand and went in a completely different direction. I touched this last, so all remaining errors are mine.
Beta: whymzycal
Started: August 18, 2012
Completed: August 25, 2012
Word count: ~2,662
The Honeymoon Phase
Day 01
When the journey was over and Gojyo and Hakkai returned to the village, they agreed not to settle back in their old house. Mostly because the roof was beyond repair, thanks to numerous winters and monsoons, and a group of vandals had apparently thought it amusing to completely trash the inside, but also because the Hakkai and Gojyo that came back weren't quite the same as the Hakkai and Gojyo that had left.
It didn't really feel right to live in a place that seemed like it belonged to completely different people, and after a quick discussion and a couple of nights sleeping at the temple while looking for a new place, they moved into their new home. Gojyo liked it because he had gotten a job carrying around boxes, setting up stalls, and driving away would-be thieves at the market, and the house was just a couple of minutes away. Hakkai liked it because the short distance from the market made buying groceries easier, and he sometimes helped sell the goods whenever Gojyo's new boss needed an extra pair of hands.
Day 10
Hakkai found it hilarious that the women who had previously hung all over Gojyo before they'd left were now still hanging all over him, but only to question Gojyo about his very romantic elopement with Hakkai. They wanted to know where the two had been, what they had been doing, and if Gojyo had bought Hakkai a ring or anything of the sort, because really, he should.
Gojyo found it confusing and irritating, so Hakkai kept his mouth shut and tried to hide his smile behind the bags of groceries he was carrying when Gojyo told him how Li, who used to be quite a vocal admirer of Gojyo's, now wanted to know if they had any plans of adopting a child.
"She says it'd be adorable," Gojyo groaned, running his hands through his hair.
"We would need a bigger house," Hakkai said. He promptly burst into laughter at the horrified look on Gojyo's face. Before he could say anything else, a group of the aforementioned women appeared, also laden with groceries, and accosted them.
"Gojyo! Mei says she has the perfect gift you can give to Hakkai—it has an emerald the exact same shade as his eyes!"
Gojyo grimaced. "I'm sure he doesn't want—"
"Have you asked? Maybe he does!" one of the women said. She immediately turned to face Hakkai. "Wouldn't you want a gift? Isn't it near your anniversary or something?"
Hakkai blinked. "Well, there's no occasion, per se, but I honestly can't remember the last time Gojyo gave me anything."
There were indignant screeches and cries of, "Gojyo, how could you?" Hakkai promised himself to make it up to Gojyo later with his favorite dinner. Meanwhile, he enjoyed watching Gojyo attempt to placate the women by allowing them to steer him in the direction of Mei's jewelry store.
Day 17
Even back when they'd been friends and nothing more, Gojyo had touched him more than Hakkai was comfortable with. When they had gotten together near the end of the journey, Gojyo still touched him as often as before, but his hands tended to stray towards more private locations after a while. Now that they were away from the eyes of an overly-curious Goku and a trigger-happy Sanzo, it seemed like Gojyo was determined to make up for all the missed opportunities to grope Hakkai without trying to avoid a bullet to the head.
Hakkai felt the hand on his thigh slowly move higher. "Gojyo, not in public," he warned.
"What? It's fine—no one can see!"
Hakkai reached under the table to grab Gojyo's hand and placed it on the table just a few seconds before their waitress arrived to take their orders. When she left, Hakkai patted Gojyo's hand. "Later, at home."
Gojyo frowned. "You're no fun," he whined, but laced his fingers together with Hakkai's.
He still needed to get used to all the touching, but Hakkai didn't mind at all.
Day 28
Gojyo stared blearily up at the ceiling and wondered why the gods still hated him, even after entire the Minus Wave thing. He had a ridiculously high fever and had thrown up everything he'd eaten for the day only a few minutes ago. His head was swimming, and he couldn't really breathe through his clogged-up nose.
Beside him, Hakkai was wringing a damp washcloth. He placed it on Gojyo's forehead and stroked his arm. "I'm sure you'll feel better by tomorrow."
"I'd better. That medicine you made me drink was the worst thing I've ever tasted in my entire life."
Hakkai smiled and got into bed beside him.
"The fuck you think you're doing?" Gojyo said. "Go sleep on the sofa—I don't want you catching my disease!"
Hakkai frowned. If it had been Goku, Gojyo would have thought of it as pouting. "The sofa is uncomfortable."
"Then dump my sick ass on the sofa. You're not sleeping with me."
Gojyo wasn't entirely sure how, five minutes later, he was curled up against Hakkai, with his head pillowed on Hakkai's chest and his arms around Hakkai's waist. "Don't blame me if you catch whatever I have."
Hakkai gave a noncommittal hum and ran his fingers through Gojyo's hair.
Day 40
He still kept expecting something to go wrong. None of the admittedly few relationships Gojyo had ever been in worked out. After Banri had turned on him, he had decided one-night stands were all he'd ever needed. He just wasn't the type to commit or the type anyone would want to commit to.
This thing with Hakkai was a fluke. And if he were being honest with himself, he was starting to feel a bit stifled. Everything was too perfect. He came home at a decent time to find dinner waiting for him. Hakkai would tell him about the kids at the school he had started working at, and Gojyo would tell Hakkai about anything interesting that had happened at the market. Li was right—all they needed was a kid and they'd be a picture-perfect family.
Gojyo had no illusions. He knew that pretty soon, he'd mess up in some way even if he tried his best, and Hakkai would dump his sorry ass. Just the thought of Hakkai leaving was enough to make Gojyo feel weak, and he had to brace himself against the wall for a few moments.
It just couldn't last, though. He'd been too happy for too long.
Day 57
Gojyo had never been the type to shy away from physical contact, be it romantic or friendly, so it surprised Hakkai how he shifted in his seat so their shoulders wouldn't touch. He kept his expression neutral, but he didn't miss how Sanzo's eyes narrowed at them from across the table.
They were having dinner with Sanzo and Goku. Gojyo claimed it was because they missed his awesome presence and suave charm. Goku said it was because they wanted to check and see if Gojyo was still as stupid as ever or if Hakkai had had any luck with teaching him how to read.
The meal was nowhere near awkward, but Hakkai thought it felt more like something from the beginning of their journey west, when they were all still just friends and no one in the group had been brave enough to make a move to change anything. Or at least, he and Gojyo were still friends.
He watched Sanzo let Goku convince him to try out the seafood platter and wondered why Gojyo still hadn't tried to grope him, if not only to annoy Sanzo.
Day 60
Hakkai watched the clock's second hand as it slowly ticked a full circle. It was now 11:01 p.m. He closed his book and turned off the light in the living room before he locked the front door. He knew Gojyo always took his key with him whenever he went out.
It was 11:37 when he heard someone stumble into the house. Hakkai pulled the blankets up to his chin while he listened to Gojyo move into the kitchen and look for his half of dinner in the fridge.
By the time Gojyo entered their bedroom, it was 12:04. The shower he'd taken didn't quite get rid of the smell of beer that still clung to him, and Hakkai pretended to be fast asleep instead of answering the whispered, "Hakkai?"
After a few moments of silence, Hakkai felt the bed dip as Gojyo climbed in beside him.
Day 65
Honestly, he didn't know why he was so surprised. He should know by now that good things didn't last, and this thing with Gojyo had been going on for quite a while now.
There was still a part of him, deep inside, that believed that he didn't have the right to such happiness and contentment. The domesticity of the entire situation threatened to suffocate him sometimes—it was beginning to remind him of his time with Kanan, how they'd known from the beginning that it wasn't meant to last but had tried anyway.
Hakkai kept waiting for Gojyo to get tired of everything. Gojyo had always been more social and outgoing than Hakkai ever was; now that the excitement of their journey west was gone, maybe Gojyo would find life with Hakkai extremely dull and boring.
Though he'd been expecting it, when Gojyo finally did begin to drift away, it hurt more than Hakkai thought it would.
Day 77
"I suppose I should start getting used to your staying out late again."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You've been coming home past eleven for four nights in a row, Gojyo. Honestly, I don't even know why I thought that you had changed after this entire ordeal."
"You're starting to sound like some pissed-off housewife. And past eleven isn't that late."
"Well. Since I'm a pissed-off housewife, you can sleep on the couch tonight. And you can make your own breakfast tomorrow."
"Why? Where the hell are you going?"
"I need to wake up early to go to the school and help prepare the test questions. Good night."
The sound of the bedroom door being locked seemed to echo throughout the hallway.
"…This is fucking stupid."
Day 83
"Who is he?"
Gojyo felt his heart racing as he watched Hakkai look up from the papers spread across their dinner table. When Hakkai didn't say anything, he repeated his question. "Who is he?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Gojyo."
"I come home early and the house is empty and you come home late and with some guy—"
Hakkai sighed before he went back to grading papers. "I am barely half an hour late, and that guy is Shang. He also works at the school. He was going in the same direction, so we decided to walk together."
"Why'd he suddenly decide to walk with you?" Gojyo demanded.
Hakkai looked at him with narrowed eyes. "If I am the pissed-off housewife, then you are the irrationally jealous husband. Please let me finish working in peace."
Gojyo slammed his fist against the tabletop. "There's nothing irrational 'bout the way I'm acting! Don't I have the right to be worried when my lover starts cozying up with some other guy?"
"I would hardly call it 'cozying up'—"
Hakkai's eyes were narrowed in a way that meant Gojyo should shut the fuck up before he said something incredibly stupid. Gojyo said something stupid anyway. "So any guy is fine with you?"
"I think I have more to fear when it comes to my lover and other men," Hakkai snapped.
"What the fuck are you talking 'bout?"
"Let me remind you that the only other person I've been involved with was Kanan. You may pretend that you're quite the ladies' man, but I don't recall you ever being as broken up as you were when Banri left whenever your nightly conquests decided you weren't worth the trouble!"
The fact that Hakkai brought up not only Banri but also Kanan made Gojyo's angry response die in his throught. He stared at Hakkai, his eyes wide and mouth open, and for a moment, he thought Hakkai would rip off his limiters and then hit him.
The tense silence stretched on longer than Gojyo could handle. He turned around and marched out of the dining room, and locked himself in the bathroom.
Day 90.1
Despite the fact that they lived in the same house, neither of them saw each other much. When Gojyo woke up, Hakkai had long since left for school. When Gojyo came home, Hakkai was already sleeping in bed. Gojyo had been sleeping on the sofa since their first fight, and it didn't look like he'd be sleeping in their bed any time soon.
Gojyo went out to the bar every night but never brought anyone home and he never spent the night with anyone, either. He told himself it was because all the women made sure to turn him down and not because the thought of actually cheating on Hakkai was enough to make his chest feel strange.
He was on his way home a lot earlier than usual—Li practically kicked him out of the bar, yelling at him to take his head out of his ass and apologize to Hakkai—when he froze in the middle of the road.
Hakkai was leaving a restaurant with Shang. They were laughing and talking, and Shang, the fucking bastard, placed his hand on Hakkai shoulder and leaned in to say something. Whatever he said was enough to make a slow smile spread across Hakkai's face.
Before he knew it, Gojyo had stepped in between them, yanking Hakkai behind him and brandishing his fist at Shang. "Back the fuck off! Find your own boyfriend!"
Shang's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. "What? No—"
"Shut it!" Gojyo snarled. He looked at Hakkai over his shoulder—only the slightest widening of his eyes gave away the fact that he was as taken aback as Shang by the turn of events. But other than that, his face was the picture of perfect calmness. "We're going home."
Day 90.2
He didn't couldn't quite remember how they'd gotten home—after the sudden confrontation between Gojyo and Shang, the walk home was a blurred mess of awkward silence, tension, and the feel of Gojyo tightly holding his hand as if he were afraid that Hakkai would disappear if he didn't.
Once inside the house, there had been a muttered apology, arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and Gojyo pressing his face against Hakkai's neck. It became hard to breathe with Gojyo pressing him against the wall like that, but Hakkai found it difficult to push Gojyo away, especially with the way that Gojyo had started pressing kisses against his skin, mouthing, "Sorry," in between each kiss.
Gojyo was shaking as they slowly slid down until they were sitting on the floor. His kisses became open-mouthed and wet, and his hands were sliding beneath Hakkai's shirt, callused palms against the skin of Hakkai's waist.
Hakkai grabbed a handful of Gojyo's hair and pulled him away. Their eyes locked, and Hakkai would have found the anxiety and panic on Gojyo's face to be endearing if he didn't feel like his heart was about to burst out of his chest at any moment. "We … need to learn how to communicate better."
Gojyo grinned and rested his forehead against Hakkai's. "Yeah, we do." Slowly, the grin turned lecherous. "We can start improving communication in the bedroom."
"That was a horrible pick-up line. Just so you know."
Day 100
When Sanzo and Goku came over for lunch, Sanzo immediately dragged Goku back out of the house the moment they arrived.
"You idiots have a goddamned bedroom with a lock—fucking use it!"