[Written with the help of Zimus. 3]
On a the porch of a small country inn, fanning himself with yesterday's newspaper and wishing for all the world it wasn't quite so hot out, sat Sanzo listening to the constant whine of the cicadas. He had snitched a t-shirt from Gojyo's luggage to replace the robe that was far too heavy for this sort of weather. Nearby, the inn's old gardener hopelessly watered the drying grass with a smile (making Sanzo believe that the old man had to either be blind or demented, as the gardener seemed to think watering dead grass was perfectly alright). Losing interest in that activity, the priest's eyelids drooped lazily, the heat making him sleepy, and he leaned against the pillar supporting the overhanging roof. He didn't seem to notice that Gojyo has come up behind him in the doorway, bare-chested and shiny with sweat. The redhead dragged the back of his hand across his forehead to wipe off the droplets of perspiration and cast the sun a disapproving glance. Gojyo hated heat like this—it was too hot to move, too hot to smoke, too hot to fuck, too hot to do anything.
"Daaamn...it's so hot…" Gojyo stated the obvious while leaning against the pillar behind Sanzo. A bead of sweat dropped from his chin and onto the wooden porch floor where it sizzled and disappeared almost instantly.
Sanzo tilted his head back to get a look at the melting kappa, swishing his newspaper back and forth. "…So? It's better than all the rain we've been running into." Swinging a bare foot over the edge of the porch, the priest kicked up a little cloud of dust that settled in a thin layer over his toes and up to the edge of his rolled up jeans. He had to admit it was miserably hot, but nothing was worse than the incessant drumming of a strong rainstorm.
Flipping a lank piece of hair out of his face, Gojyo shrugged. "I kinda like the rain. I sure wish it was raining right now…feh." The redhead stretched out gingerly next to Sanzo, the absorbed heat of the wood stinging his shoulders and back, and folded his hand behind his head. "I'm gonna dieee…."
A gentle rap on the nose with the edge of the newspaper quieted Gojyo temporarily. "You're not gonna die. It's just hot. Besides, once the sun goes down it'll cool off." The old gardener must have been thinking along the same lines—he stopped hosing his dead grass and disappeared into a side door of the inn. Sanzo resumed fanning himself as he watched the man, feeling rather lethargic again after the initial vague interest when Gojyo appeared.
The kappa pulled a face and replied, "Why not fan me?"
"Fan yourself," Sanzo answered with a snort. He wasn't about to fan a whiney kappa just because he demanded it. The priest continued to fan himself with the paper in an almost teasing manner, daring Gojyo to try and take it from him. For all intents and purposes, Sanzo was in a good mood, although a 'good mood' for him only meant that he didn't have a headache from stress or yelling or drinking. Wrinkling his nose in irritation, the redhead eyed the back of Sanzo's head with contempt and sat up to rest his sticky chin on the priest's shoulder.
"Fan me or I'll press my nasty, sweaty body up against you" he threatened, already feeling infinitely hotter from leaning on Sanzo's shoulder. The priest just rolled up the newspaper and smacked him smartly on the head.
"No." Sanzo felt a bit too sluggish to shove the kappa back, although the heat between them was unpleasantly like an oven. Instead, he settled for another whack to Gojyo's head and a prod with the end of the paper roll. "Off."
Fed up with being hit, Gojyo snatched the paper out of the priest's hand and rolled away. He fanned himself for about thirty seconds before he discovered that the soggy thing did practically nothing to push the air around. Frustrated, he threw it back at Sanzo and stood. "I can't stand this anymore. It's hooooot…."
Sanzo ignored the discarded paper and jumped down from the porch, stretching. He ambled across the course lawn, picking up the discarded hose as he went. Reaching the side of the building, the priest turned the water on and faced Gojyo, who had his back turned, and aimed carefully. A mildly bored expression settled on Sanzo's face as the stream of water hit the kappa full blast. Gojyo was not paying attention in the least and was probably expecting the end of the world more than that sudden spray of water. Scrambling to get out of the way, the kappa was practically tripping over his own feet until Sanzo stopped spraying him.
"You jerk!" Gojyo exclaimed, jumping off the porch and rushing toward the priest. Sanzo's lips turned up in a slight smirk, as he aimed the water directly at the kappa's crotch this time.
"You said you were hot, so I'm helping." Well, that and the cool water leaking down over his wrists felt heavenly in the hot sun. Gojyo slipped and fell with a yelp on the wet ground, but recovered quickly and scrabbled out of range.
"I am so getting you back for that." Searching with one hand for the line of the hose, the kappa grabbed it with both hands and twisted, creating a kink to stop the flow of water. "Ha!"
Frowning, the priest gave a tug, but to no avail. "Hey, let go. You're going to ruin that old man's hose." He didn't particularly believe that, but he most definitely did not want Gojyo to get a hold of the hose. Despite the heat, Sanzo didn't feel it necessary to be drenched, laughed at, and most likely groped by the kappa. Gojyo, however, had other ideas and with a quick tug and a snicker he had control of the hose. The priest lunged for it and missed, sliding on the slick grass and landing in a heap on the ground, cursing. Reeling it in with a cackle, the kappa grabbed the open end and angled it to send a nice little shower down on Sanzo's head. The hose being a very phallic thing (especially the way he was holding it) and Gojyo being a pervert if nothing else, prompted him to tease Sanzo even more.
"Oh man, Sanzo—I'm squirting all over you!"
Sputtering and growling at the same time, the priest made a grab for the hose and, failing that, instead went for Gojyo's ankles. He was already soaked, shirt clinging to his slender shoulders and around his arms. "You're gonna pay, kappa."
"Haa! Try it, monk!" Gojyo continued to spray Sanzo with the cold water, pressing his thumb over the mouth of the hose and aiming it more toward the priest's rear. He snickered triumphantly until a cold hand clamped around his ankle and pulled, sending him flying backward, letting go of the hose in surprise. Sanzo scrambled for it, half crawling over the downed kappa in the process. Getting a hold of it, he did the most devious thing he could think off—that being taking the end of the hose and stuffing it, cold water and all, down the front of the kappa's pants. The redhead's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and his face twitched just before he started thrashing to get the offending garden tool out of his pants. Curling up defensively he shot a nasty glance in Sanzo's direction. "You bastard."
Sanzo was sitting near him, a small smirk on his lips. "You deserved it?" he ventured, although that was his answer for everything when it came to Gojyo.
"Did not!"
Sliding over on his knees to the faucet, the priest twisted it shut. "At least it'll keep you cooled off for a while." While the kappa felt more like he'd just been castrated than anything, he had to admit that overall he felt much better. Rolling on his side, Gojyo laid his head in the priest's lap. Sanzo smoothed down the kappa's drenched red hair, letting the sunlight bake the back of his neck and dry his hair. He kept his hand in Gojyo's red hair, watching it dry until it had returned to its brilliant shade of red, shining fluidly in the bright light as it fell around the kappa's face and shoulders. "Hey, don't fall asleep now," the priest mentioned when he noticed that the redhead's eyes were falling shut.
"Why not?"
"Because it's gonna get hot again when we dry off and I don't want you laying in my lap when that happens. Besides, that old man's gonna come back out here soon, I would think, and he probably wouldn't be too happy we were using his hose."
Gojyo considered this logic for a moment. "What's wrong with having a hot man in your lap? And forget his hose—we can just use mine," he added with a nasty chuckle, raising his eyebrows at a now annoyed Sanzo. The priest snorted and dumped Gojyo off his lap, plucking at his drying shirt. The kappa didn't seem very phased by this and got up immediately to follow Sanzo back to the porch. Sitting down first, Sanzo picked up his newspaper and began to fan himself again.
"Hey, why don't you go get us some beers, kappa?" Gojyo nodded, thinking that he wouldn't mind a cold one right now either. He ventured inside to conduct a quick search and returned with two cans, condensation dripping steadily off their slick, tin sides. Handing on to Sanzo, he say down by the priest and popped his open, took along drink, and sighed contentedly. The priest opened his own, but didn't drink right away. He was intently watching the sunset, everything else seeming like an unwanted distraction to something so enchanting. The orange and vermilion hues reminded him too much of the temple and of Komyou, but not in a repulsive way like the rain did. Next to him, Gojyo sipped his beer quietly, enjoying it and the company, for once. The redhead was hardly picky about whom he shared his space with, but the priest tended to need a wider personal space than normal people, which annoyed Gojyo to no end. Caught up in his own thoughts, Gojyo failed to notice the faint sigh as Sanzo leaned sideways onto him, leaving his drink forgotten to the side. The priest's eyelids dropped and he slid down the kappa's shoulder until he was balanced precariously against Gojyo's arm.
His lips twitching into a smile, Gojyo pulled him closer with the crook of his elbow, leaning back on his other arm so Sanzo was resting against his collarbone. The warmth of the sun was making the priest sleepy again and he yawned, listening to Gojyo drink right above his ear. Perhaps it was the drink, or maybe the heat, but Sanzo's temporary headrest was feeling rather content with the moment and he set down the can to curl and arm around the priest's waist. He was tempted to try for more, this being Gojyo, the man with a libido the size of India, but he somehow didn't want to break the silence just yet. Sanzo followed the line of the kappa's arm with his hand, closing his fingers around the wrist loosely. Soon enough, a wave of sleepiness overcame his resolve to not be asleep in Gojyo's presence and he stretched out across the kappa's lap while Gojyo reached for his abandoned can of beer. Shifting back to lean against the pillar, the redhead rested his hand on the priest stomach, kneading his fingers gently around Sanzo's navel.
After another wide yawn, it wasn't long before Sanzo drifted off, breathing quietly. The warm hand on his stomach was relaxing and especially nice since the kappa didn't seem to have any ulterior motive. Setting down the beer he snitched, Gojyo watch the priest sleep, marveling at how his hair glowed many different shades of orange in the sun and how his skin was tinged pink in the failing light. His hand eventually settled on Sanzo's midsection and the redhead nodded off, as well. Sanzo rolled over a bit in his sleep, ending up with his face pressed against the kappa's stomach and arms dangling over the edge of the porch. If someone had told the priest he had fallen asleep like that, on Gojyo of all people, he likely would have shot them. As it was, he was likely to wake up a little confused, being not quite used to napping on the kappa in public places, but not hating it either.