Title: Combination
Author: Sariyuki
Date: 19 August 2004
Disclaimer: Saiyuki belongs to Minekura Kazuya sama whom I worship on daily basis
Note: Written for the drabble challenge in Sanzo/Hakkai community in LiveJournal
Hakkai read.
Sanzo smoked.
They didn't contradict but complimented each other.
The smoke sometimes bothered Hakkai's vision and his sense of well being but he allowed it, even tolerated it. There was always room to change or some fresh athmosphere if he searched hard enough. Or ceased to search for it. Hakkai didn't mind either way.
Sanzo, on the other hand, never was used to sleep when the light was on as the other man was still engrossed with his reading but Sanzo reprimanded no one for it. He learnt to tolerate it, learnt to endure it on some nights.
The question why occurred to neither of them. At least, not yet. For the time being, they weaved a pattern of habits that overlapped and completed each other, covered with a mixed of trailing cigarrete smokes smelling like burnt tobacco and the scent of dried leaves of cheap paperback books. It was like a perfect combination, an ideal arrangement.
It wasn't complicated and both were glad of it.
A page was turned and a soft sigh was heard.
"Are you ready to sleep, Sanzo?"
Sanzo killed the last ember of his cigarette and turned around to watch his companion. Questioning green eyes greeted his sight. He had thought of this for the longest of time, Hakkai's were the greenest eyes he'd ever seen.
"Yes."
Hakkai closed the book and put it on the left side of his pillow. It wasn't really an interesting reading anyway, too much romance for his own liking, too much flowery words in the meaningless paragraphs, which really wasn't his usual kind of reading.
Standing up from his bed, he walked towards the power point on the wall across the room. Darkness descended in the vicinity. Hakkai walked back to the bed, although not his.
"Goodnight, Sanzo."
He placed a kiss on the monk's forehead, touching the soft strands of hair with his lips. The faint scent of Sanzo's shampoo greeted his senses. He pulled himself away after a second, stopping to notice -
A sharp intake of breath and a moment of tension.
Hakkai waited for a warning bang of the infamous exorcism gun but no sound was heard except for a low grunt from the monk.
Hakkai felt the tension ebbing slowly away and a smile forming on his face. No one would be able to see it in the dark but he was genuinely glad. There was, as he suspected -
Too much romance in one night.
Romance was way too overatted, he thought. But if it was his, he countered his argument effortlessly, it was alright.
He headed back to his bed. The question why he did what he just did hadn't crossed his mind. He ran his finger on his lips and smiled again. It just felt right to do it.
Hakkai drifted to sleep, failing to notice the scrutiny gaze from across the room. After a while, Sanzo gave up on trying to outstare the darkness. He'd be able to see better in the morning, he reasoned. For now, he'd let his guard down and rest.
Sanzo closed his eyes as the night wore on.
