[beast]
I
In spite of his twisted and paling expression, inwardly he felt at ease. A relief he'd not experienced before fell over his heart and came to rest behind his eyes, a cool affection sliding into them when they caught the light. Konzen ruffled the child's hair without thinking, his eyes narrowed on She who had condemned him to loud but enjoyable company. She, who had sentenced him to care about someone else and dared to ask his hot-tempered heart to melt its icy walls and let in the creature with such bright eyes.
"He says what everyone thinks," She said, smirking up at him with amusement dancing over her features. "He doesn't censor his feelings."
Only able to grunt in response, he took a firm hold of the animal's hair, ignoring his yowling with full intent to put him in his place. An eyesore, the pale man thought for certain, though it was not altogether offensive to the eye. An earache, he thought, surely, though the wavering nasal voice that danced about him so curiously was oddly endearing. A burden, he reminded himself as his lips twitched with yearning to smile, though the slender fingers that laced through his own feigned weakness poorly.
"Stupid monkey," he hissed, frustrated with himself for feeling no pity nor sympathy for the creature.
"I-I'm not a monkey," the beast replied, not realizing that the insults stemmed from respect for his bright and carefree visage. His cheeks red, the animal furrowed his brows and stopped in the hallway, large golden eyes flickering with worry. For him, this man was the sun that would be his salvation; his radiant hope.
Hesitating for half a second, he snarled, "Well then, Monkey, what shall I call you?"
"I said, I'm not a monkey!"
"Who are you then?"
"I-I…"
"Monkey is fine," Konzen said, grunting as if his disgust would bring closure. His heart, however, was ill-at-ease; the hot-handed beast was melting his ice and was already wriggling his way inside.
In spite of the trouble the monkey caused for Konzen, he always had sweetness in mind. How often the blonde had restrained himself, suppressing the urge to lash out an any dare call him 'uncivilized'. She who bound them together had noticed, her sharp eyes catching every small smile that crossed his lips. Her knowledge stretched so far that she was well-aware the creature no longer slept on the floor, nor curled at his feet, but cradled against his chest with his fingers curled in "hair like the sun".
"He's changed," she purred to herself one day, watching his hand flutter over the creature's shoulder, "our Konzen."
It was no time at all, and somehow the monkey -- no, "Goku" was his name -- had changed his heart in a way an infinite number of women with soft smiles and warm hands could not. This creature's goal was not to seduce, but win Konzen's heart he had, with bright eyes and an honest smile. The two of them, Kazeon Bosatsu had noted, were bound together somehow.
It was entirely by accident that Konzen first pressed his lips to those of the beast, leaning down in a half-sleeping haze with a hint of a smile and whispering, "You're going to give me fleas, Monkey."
His tone was not harsh, and his gaze was warm. He had not moved away after that, eyes sliding shut. Goku had growled softly, a tinge of pain in his voice when he picked his head up quickly, eyes wide, but was cut off. Don't call me Monkey; my name is Goku! GOKU!
Konzen himself did not realize that he had breached his own personal barrier, and that the pair of soft, warm, trembling lips beneath his were so yielding until he had parted his own.
"Hey, Monkey," he hissed, his breath rushing warm over the beast's flushed cheeks, "close your eyes."
It was with something like rage that burned in his chest, and shame fueled his movements. He held the creature close, lips seeming to move on their own over his quirky, boyish face. Goku drew in a sharp gasp at the warmth of the mouth on his own. His eyes drifted shut, and his fingers, trembling, settled on the shoulders of his guardian sunlight.
A tangle of earth and sky, they lay with closed eyes and entwined limbs, the beast held beneath his owner. Tenderness flew along Konzen's spine, leaving his fingers with an urge to stroke every inch of Goku, his lips with the itch to wander across skin so warm he thought he might be scalded, and his ears hungering for the call of his name.
Pulling away from the golden-eyed creature had taken far more effort than Konzen was comfortable with. His hair, soft and fine, slid over his shoulders and down in front of his eyes, as Goku reached for him with his brows knitted slightly at the center.
"K-Konzen," he breathed, voice wavering with uncertainty.
"Shut up," the blonde said, low voice harsh as he lowered himself against the small, shackled boy again. His lips would wander indeed, from lips to ear, to neck, collarbone.
"I shouldn't be doing this…" he groaned as his rough-skinned fingertips slid from Goku's belly, under his shirt, and over his chest, "… with a beast."
Even though it brought tears to his eyes, he was resolved to be strong. He did not tell Konzen how it hurt him, to be called a beast, even once their kisses had ceased to linger. He did not want to lose this affection now; before, he'd not known to miss it.
II
"I'll protect you," he swore, holding the sleeping monk against his chest. "I'll never let them get you, Sanzo."
"How the hell am I supposed to sleep with you yelling in my ear, you useless monkey?" His voice was soft, though his tone, as was his face, had frozen into a rough disdain. Sanzo shifted his weight in spite of his words, pressing his forehead to the curve of Goku's neck, eyes closed tightly, lips turned down.
"S-sanzo…."
"Shut up," he growled, as Goku's fingers slid down his leather-clad chest. "You're going to give me fleas, Monkey. Go sleep on someone else."
Goku whimpered, before his mouth turned down and his teeth bared. The growl was a pouting one, benign to everything but Sanzo's ears. "Naa, Sanzo! That's so mean! Why're you so mean to me, Sanzo! You know it isn't fair! We didn't even have a decent dinner! Sanzo! Sanzo! Are you listening to me? Sanzo!"
There came a sigh from the lips of the long-suffering monk, and he reached up, hand behind Goku's scruffy head, pulling him down. Their lips met again with an odd familiarity, and though Sanzo had never been so close before, and Sanzo could not, for the life of him, think why he wanted to suckle on the monkey's lower lip just so, it felt like neither the first nor the last of many such kisses.
A soft cry was stifled in the back of Goku's throat, as he pulled slowly from the gaze of the man he never knew to touch anyone so gently -- much less, in such an intimate way. Brow furrowing, he wet his lips, fumbling for words.
"Go to sleep," Sanzo said, rolling over, "beast."
"I-I'm not a…," Goku trailed off, sighing softly. To tell Sanzo how much his opinion meant to him was to lower that opinion; Goku slumped down and curled around the curve of Sanzo's back, one arm snaking its way around his waist.
"… G'night, Monkey," Sanzo breathed, resting against the pillow.
"G'night…." Sunshine, Goku wanted to say.
He slept soundly, as always, that night, content to chew on the ends of Sanzo's hair, where it kissed the nape of his neck. Sanzo would awake with Goku against his chest once more, hands curled in little fists against his chest. He would smile then, as the sun glinted off his hair, and shift Goku's great weight in his arms. Breathing in the smell of his hair, eyes sliding shut once more, he said, "I shouldn't be feeling this… for a beast."
III
Konzen leaned back in his chair, gazing dully up at the ceiling. It was quiet, finally, and he was alone. The pile of papers in front of him were untouched; he had not even considered them. He reached with one hand for the flowers, still in the glass. They were getting old. He thought for half a moment that he might like some fresh ones -- something new and bright, to remind him of his charge.
"… Why am I …?" Konzen gazed at the flowers' drooping petals, wondering just how it was that so small a gesture could please him so much; wondering that it should please him at all.
Goku's footsteps still echoed out the door and down the hall. His laughter still rang in Konzen's ears as he sighed, struggling to concentrate on work. Kazeon had said many times that the documents were not to be read, only signed. Today, he thought; just today, I'd like to do that.
Tenpo and Kenren, side by side in the garden, watched the monkey scurry through the flowers.
"This is the way things should be, don't you think, Kenren?" Tenpo's eyes were lowered towards the ground, where Goku was setting out his picked flowers. The red-haired general did not look at the one so often called his wife, but only smiled up at the sky.
"Aa?"
"Yellow this week," Tenpo noted, still gazing at the flowers with a smile. He sighed before answering the question, eyes sliding shut as his smile grew warmer. "They're both very happy, with one another. Haven't you noticed?"
"Oh," Kenren replied, shaking his head. "You worry too much about him. But you're right. They do seem…."
"… Content," the Marshal breathed, his glasses catching the light, his little finger brushing against Kenren's palm.
The general paused , cheeks staining the same colour as his hair for half a moment, before his eyes narrowed, his grin slipped to one side, and he nodded.
"Aa. This is the way it should be."
Neither of them would be allowed to see Konzen smile upon receiving the bundle of bright yellow blooms with a nearly sickly-sweet aroma. He replaced the red ones accordingly, offering a soft grunt of thanks before running his fingers through Goku's hair.
"You're not bad, for a beast," he rumbled, thumb sliding over Goku's lower lip. "… not bad at all."
IV
"What the hell is this," Sanzo snarled, staring down his nose at the other three, who had the nerve to play when they were so miserably lost in the woods. Something was keeping them there. "You idiots are…."
"Sanzo," Goku chirped, happily hopping to his feet, and holding out a bundle of flowers to match the priest's eyes. They were violets. "We can eat these, you kno--OW! What was that for!"
The flowers scattered over their feet, Sanzo's fan clutched tightly in one hand as he narrowed his eyes on the bunch of them. "Only monkeys eat flowers," he snarled. "We'll find real food once we're out of this damn forest!"
Goku clenched his teeth, letting his head drop and his hair hide his eyes. "A-aa," he breathed, wetting his lips and turning his back towards the monk. "We ought to look around more, ne?"
Hakkai's smile had not faltered, as he got to his feet, resting one hand on Goku's shoulder. "Sanzo," he said, his tone almost motherly, chastising. "It only makes sense for us to gather our energy so that our search can prove fruitful, ne?"
Gojyo hauled himself up with a groan, tugging Goku against his chest and roughly tousling his hair, laughing for his sake. "Sanzo-sama, you ruined our splendid dinner," he teased, smile sliding to one side as he felt his laughter turn real in his chest.
Goku's eyes turned bright as he unleashed his smile on the monk's frowning face. Clenching a fist, he leapt onto Sanzo's back, arms sliding warm and familiar around his shoulders.
"Sanzo! You've got to eat something or else you'll get grumpy. We don't want to scare them off! Let's find a stream and I'll catch some fish and we'll look when it's still cool, in the morning!"
Gojyo's left brow twitched a little, his jaw going slack for a moment. "He wasn't grumpy just now?"
Hakkai, chuckling, closed his eyes as he smiled, shaking his head. "A sobering statement, don't you think?" They regarded one another in silence after that, the soft and hallow smile of one reflecting warmly in the lonely red eyes of the other. Sanzo threw Goku to the ground as their companions shared a gaze, growling to the beast and scolding him. Sanzo felt a heat flare up in his face when Goku got so close, and because he couldn't make sense of it, he was afraid of his touch perhaps more than any other. Goku's laughter rose in spite of his abuse.
"Sanzo! You're gonna wear yourself out soon! That's no good," the monkey cooed, resilient as ever in the face of scorn. "If you get too tired we'll have to go to bed without any food!"
"Idiot monkey! Is that all you ever think about?!"
"Hey! I'm not a monkey, damn it!"
"You are," Sanzo said with a rough snarl, "beast!"
"I said," howled the creature as he leapt for his sunshine, "I'm not!"
They fell to the ground in a tangle, rolling through the grass as they struggled together, almost child-like in the way they wrestled. Sanzo's voice rose in frustration when his gun slipped from his hands, and Goku planted himself firmly against his chest. The two of them breathed heavily, in unison, as the monkey sank down into the arms of the priest, safely hidden from the eyes of their companions.
"I'm not a monkey," he panted, sounding almost forlorn.
Pale but rough-skinned fingers slid through Goku's hair then, leather-clad palm cupping his cheek.
"You are a beast," replied the sharp-eyed blonde, sprawled on the grass.
"But Sanzo --"
"I haven't gotten rid of you, have I, beast?"
Goku nuzzled that hand for half a moment, his eyes beginning to burn. "I won't let you down, Sanzo," he swore, lips sliding over hot, salty skin.
"I know," Sanzo growled back, arms wrapping tightly about the little, trembling body against his chest.
V
"Which of us is the beast," he howled, cradling Konzen against his chest, the silken blonde sunlight growing dim. "Which of us…!"
Rocking back and forth, blood on his hands, Goku buried his face in the hair of the man who had shown him what affection could be. A choked cry slid through his clenched teeth, tears sliding from his eyes down his cheeks and off of his chin. Kenren had been struck down protecting the interests of the beast, his 'wife' at his side. Tenpo's rage had wiped out a good number of them, when he saw his companion fall, but before long his glasses, broken and blood-splattered, slid across the stone of the courtyard.
Kazeon Bosatsu scowled down her nose at the boy who had so changed Konzen, daring him to protest as the corpse was pulled from his arms. Soft blonde hair ripped almost easily from his scalp as Goku struggled to find a piece of hope to hang on to. The men around him laughed, hissing insults under his breath.
"Stupid beast," they said. "What a waste of effort."
It was with his eyes wide and his teeth bared that he felt his chains dissolve around him, and the screaming of his heart burst from his throat as he reached, blindly, for whatever he might find.
"Which of us is the beast," he asked, breathless, as he began his massacre. "Which of us dampened the sun!"
It was with a scream to shake the heavens that his diadem shattered, shards of deity-instilled bronze clattering to the cobblestone courtyard. Bright, innocent eyes narrowed on those who had stolen his Most Precious Thing, before they grew hungry and he bared his fangs. Lunging forward with his claws curving, trembling with the need to rip into flesh, Goku lost himself and truly became a beast.
His snarling cry echoed against the stone of the courtyard as numerous soldiers fell beneath his wrath. Even so, the Gods survived, and easily surrounded him, shackled his limbs, and returned him to his mind. Splattered with blood, he collapsed against her, the one who had entrusted him to Konzen (or perhaps, she had entrusted Konzen to him).
"This won't do, beast," she said softly. "It won't be any fun if you forget yourself now."
Mount Gogyo was cold and empty; a fitting punishment for a boy who had not known affection. He would miss it for however long it took, to return 'Konzen' to his side.
He sobbed when he awoke, peering through his prison at the rising sun, and begging it to stay where he would never need to let it go.
VI
"Shut up, Monkey," Sanzo hissed, holding the thrashing creature down with all his might, gun to its temple. This was not Goku. This would hurt him without thinking, and then destroy the world because of it. The beast grinned up at him, pausing mid-howl to laugh, before easily swatting him away.
The monk sailed, it seemed, for an eternity, though that eternity was barely more than two meters, where he fell and slid, scraping the delicate skin of his cheek along the hardwood floor.
It seemed to cling to him, squeaking in protest as he fell hard against its polished surface. He was glad he did not splinter, though the redness that arose from the friction would be angry and flushed for days. The burning spread to his jaw, its tingling heat reaching with outstretched fingers towards his slightly curving lips. To think, he thought, I have kissed this beast.
It leapt after him, as he rolled over. The creature that had stolen Goku from the monk launched himself onto Sanzo's chest, he threw a single punch to crush his skull. It easily could have, if Sanzo had not thought what he did.
The creature that had stolen Goku.
"Give him back," Sanzo snarled suddenly, palm landing against the forehead of the beast, who seemed shocked that he had been touched by such a man. "Idiot beast!"
The light that brought Goku back saw him shudder against Sanzo's chest, and the monk himself was unaware of all he had done. Deity-instilled bronze, back in place, glinted beneath Goku's rich, brown hair. Desperate to keep his eyes open, Goku's brow furrowed as he gazed up at Sanzo's face, trembling.
"I didn't put out the light," he breathed, fingers curling in Sanzo's hair. "I didn't dim the sun."
Something inside of Sanzo sparked and grew warm. The gentle licking that the monkey used on rainy days, when he thought Sanzo needed cheering was returned in an awkward way. Sanzo's lips brushed first Goku's forehead, then his cheeks, the tip of his nose, his lower lip, his chin, and lastly the curve of his neck where it met his shoulders. This soft, gentle kissing could coax the beast to sleep, if Sanzo was not careful.
He buried his face in Goku's hair, saying gently, "No, Goku. You made it brighter."
With a sigh of relief, the beast closed his eyes, suddenly deadweight in the arms of his savior. It was with uncharacteristically gentle hands that the blonde brushed Goku's hair from his eyes, hoisted him up, and carried him out to where the others were no doubt waiting.
"You make it want to rise in the morning," he breathed, "and make it hesitate to sink below the horizon." Turning his eyes towards the west, Sanzo wet his lips, and chanced a smile for only the clouds to see.
VII
Goku looked with untamed affection into the eyes of the man who brought him hope. "We've done this before," he said almost timidly, as though Sanzo would laugh. They had done no such thing. The blonde was stretched languidly out before him, kimono in an uncharacteristically crumpled pile on the floor, the palest of his flesh -- his chest -- bared to the cool air in their room. Short, thick fingers with rough-skinned pads slid down Sanzo's neck. The monk was remarkably soft to touch, though his gaze, as well as his heart, were hardened to most.
Goku wondered silently if this is the way that ice felt as it melted. Goku wondered if Sanzo's ice was special; if it would melt for no one but him. The blonde breathed in deeply, eyes sliding shut as he tilted his head back.
"Not exactly," he grunted, one hand gathering a clump of Goku's short, dark hair. "It was the other way around, then."
This memory was not alien to him, though it was not his own. Pulling the beast down, to lap at his lips as had so often been done to him, Sanzo showed Goku what licking meant to him, and the way a proper kiss could send shivers down one's spine. Goku's small, strong hands pressed against the chest to which he was being pulled, fingers flaring out over marble skin and rose nipples. The leather smelled of Sanzo, and soon, so would Goku.
Sanzo's breath was quick and thin, almost ragged as his hair slid back and away from his face. Goku was pulled close by needy hands and the curve of his young face was mouthed by needy lips. Unsure, at first, the beast laughed, letting his eyes slide shut with contentment. His heart beat quickly in his chest; it was an unfamiliar sensation to him, being winded. His breath was labored as he cautiously returned the nuzzling not-quite-kisses.
Sanzo's skin was salty and warm, and Goku's teeth slid over milky-white flesh, leaving large and angry red splotches in their wake. The bruising would be impossible to hide, at the top of his neck and over the shell of his ear. Sanzo, for perhaps the first time, did not care what the others would think. They would not leave his side, no matter his tastes.
Goku let the way Sanzo's muscles rippled and tensed and relaxed guide his hands, the soft moans that laced the monk's breath his reward for learning so quickly. Moving over Sanzo with uncharacteristic care, Goku's lips trailed from his face down his neck, and lingered against his shoulders.
"I'm not a beast," he growled, hands dropping to Sanzo's hips, tugging at the leather that covered him.
"You're mine," Sanzo said suddenly, a harshness in his voice that had not been there in a long, long while. Goku paused, then, staring up at the blonde with large amber eyes. The beast smiled, eyes narrowing, and shook his head.
"No, Sanzo," he said, drawing another moan from the monk as he peeled the leather away from his thighs. "You are mine."
Sanzo's hands rose to Goku's hair once more, as his skin was bared to the moonlight, eyes closed. "Which of us is the pet?"
"You are," Goku said, without hesitation and an unfamiliar growl. "You're the pet, Sanzo."
With that, the beast lowered his lips to the curve of his savior's hip, fingers stretching to reach his already-hardened nipples. There was no hesitation on the part of either of them, Goku's lips, teeth, and tongue proving to Sanzo just how in control the one he called 'beast' was.
Reduced to trembling, the monk clutched at the sheets, back arching with animalistic grace against the mattress. Goku, triumphant, laughed against his blonde's neck, kissing the curve of his jaw as he panted, "You're the pet, Genjo Sanzo. You belong to me."
"This is the way it should be," Kazeon Bosatsu said with a laugh. "Wasn't that fun?"
The west, they would find, was not so far away after all.
I
In spite of his twisted and paling expression, inwardly he felt at ease. A relief he'd not experienced before fell over his heart and came to rest behind his eyes, a cool affection sliding into them when they caught the light. Konzen ruffled the child's hair without thinking, his eyes narrowed on She who had condemned him to loud but enjoyable company. She, who had sentenced him to care about someone else and dared to ask his hot-tempered heart to melt its icy walls and let in the creature with such bright eyes.
"He says what everyone thinks," She said, smirking up at him with amusement dancing over her features. "He doesn't censor his feelings."
Only able to grunt in response, he took a firm hold of the animal's hair, ignoring his yowling with full intent to put him in his place. An eyesore, the pale man thought for certain, though it was not altogether offensive to the eye. An earache, he thought, surely, though the wavering nasal voice that danced about him so curiously was oddly endearing. A burden, he reminded himself as his lips twitched with yearning to smile, though the slender fingers that laced through his own feigned weakness poorly.
"Stupid monkey," he hissed, frustrated with himself for feeling no pity nor sympathy for the creature.
"I-I'm not a monkey," the beast replied, not realizing that the insults stemmed from respect for his bright and carefree visage. His cheeks red, the animal furrowed his brows and stopped in the hallway, large golden eyes flickering with worry. For him, this man was the sun that would be his salvation; his radiant hope.
Hesitating for half a second, he snarled, "Well then, Monkey, what shall I call you?"
"I said, I'm not a monkey!"
"Who are you then?"
"I-I…"
"Monkey is fine," Konzen said, grunting as if his disgust would bring closure. His heart, however, was ill-at-ease; the hot-handed beast was melting his ice and was already wriggling his way inside.
In spite of the trouble the monkey caused for Konzen, he always had sweetness in mind. How often the blonde had restrained himself, suppressing the urge to lash out an any dare call him 'uncivilized'. She who bound them together had noticed, her sharp eyes catching every small smile that crossed his lips. Her knowledge stretched so far that she was well-aware the creature no longer slept on the floor, nor curled at his feet, but cradled against his chest with his fingers curled in "hair like the sun".
"He's changed," she purred to herself one day, watching his hand flutter over the creature's shoulder, "our Konzen."
It was no time at all, and somehow the monkey -- no, "Goku" was his name -- had changed his heart in a way an infinite number of women with soft smiles and warm hands could not. This creature's goal was not to seduce, but win Konzen's heart he had, with bright eyes and an honest smile. The two of them, Kazeon Bosatsu had noted, were bound together somehow.
It was entirely by accident that Konzen first pressed his lips to those of the beast, leaning down in a half-sleeping haze with a hint of a smile and whispering, "You're going to give me fleas, Monkey."
His tone was not harsh, and his gaze was warm. He had not moved away after that, eyes sliding shut. Goku had growled softly, a tinge of pain in his voice when he picked his head up quickly, eyes wide, but was cut off. Don't call me Monkey; my name is Goku! GOKU!
Konzen himself did not realize that he had breached his own personal barrier, and that the pair of soft, warm, trembling lips beneath his were so yielding until he had parted his own.
"Hey, Monkey," he hissed, his breath rushing warm over the beast's flushed cheeks, "close your eyes."
It was with something like rage that burned in his chest, and shame fueled his movements. He held the creature close, lips seeming to move on their own over his quirky, boyish face. Goku drew in a sharp gasp at the warmth of the mouth on his own. His eyes drifted shut, and his fingers, trembling, settled on the shoulders of his guardian sunlight.
A tangle of earth and sky, they lay with closed eyes and entwined limbs, the beast held beneath his owner. Tenderness flew along Konzen's spine, leaving his fingers with an urge to stroke every inch of Goku, his lips with the itch to wander across skin so warm he thought he might be scalded, and his ears hungering for the call of his name.
Pulling away from the golden-eyed creature had taken far more effort than Konzen was comfortable with. His hair, soft and fine, slid over his shoulders and down in front of his eyes, as Goku reached for him with his brows knitted slightly at the center.
"K-Konzen," he breathed, voice wavering with uncertainty.
"Shut up," the blonde said, low voice harsh as he lowered himself against the small, shackled boy again. His lips would wander indeed, from lips to ear, to neck, collarbone.
"I shouldn't be doing this…" he groaned as his rough-skinned fingertips slid from Goku's belly, under his shirt, and over his chest, "… with a beast."
Even though it brought tears to his eyes, he was resolved to be strong. He did not tell Konzen how it hurt him, to be called a beast, even once their kisses had ceased to linger. He did not want to lose this affection now; before, he'd not known to miss it.
II
"I'll protect you," he swore, holding the sleeping monk against his chest. "I'll never let them get you, Sanzo."
"How the hell am I supposed to sleep with you yelling in my ear, you useless monkey?" His voice was soft, though his tone, as was his face, had frozen into a rough disdain. Sanzo shifted his weight in spite of his words, pressing his forehead to the curve of Goku's neck, eyes closed tightly, lips turned down.
"S-sanzo…."
"Shut up," he growled, as Goku's fingers slid down his leather-clad chest. "You're going to give me fleas, Monkey. Go sleep on someone else."
Goku whimpered, before his mouth turned down and his teeth bared. The growl was a pouting one, benign to everything but Sanzo's ears. "Naa, Sanzo! That's so mean! Why're you so mean to me, Sanzo! You know it isn't fair! We didn't even have a decent dinner! Sanzo! Sanzo! Are you listening to me? Sanzo!"
There came a sigh from the lips of the long-suffering monk, and he reached up, hand behind Goku's scruffy head, pulling him down. Their lips met again with an odd familiarity, and though Sanzo had never been so close before, and Sanzo could not, for the life of him, think why he wanted to suckle on the monkey's lower lip just so, it felt like neither the first nor the last of many such kisses.
A soft cry was stifled in the back of Goku's throat, as he pulled slowly from the gaze of the man he never knew to touch anyone so gently -- much less, in such an intimate way. Brow furrowing, he wet his lips, fumbling for words.
"Go to sleep," Sanzo said, rolling over, "beast."
"I-I'm not a…," Goku trailed off, sighing softly. To tell Sanzo how much his opinion meant to him was to lower that opinion; Goku slumped down and curled around the curve of Sanzo's back, one arm snaking its way around his waist.
"… G'night, Monkey," Sanzo breathed, resting against the pillow.
"G'night…." Sunshine, Goku wanted to say.
He slept soundly, as always, that night, content to chew on the ends of Sanzo's hair, where it kissed the nape of his neck. Sanzo would awake with Goku against his chest once more, hands curled in little fists against his chest. He would smile then, as the sun glinted off his hair, and shift Goku's great weight in his arms. Breathing in the smell of his hair, eyes sliding shut once more, he said, "I shouldn't be feeling this… for a beast."
III
Konzen leaned back in his chair, gazing dully up at the ceiling. It was quiet, finally, and he was alone. The pile of papers in front of him were untouched; he had not even considered them. He reached with one hand for the flowers, still in the glass. They were getting old. He thought for half a moment that he might like some fresh ones -- something new and bright, to remind him of his charge.
"… Why am I …?" Konzen gazed at the flowers' drooping petals, wondering just how it was that so small a gesture could please him so much; wondering that it should please him at all.
Goku's footsteps still echoed out the door and down the hall. His laughter still rang in Konzen's ears as he sighed, struggling to concentrate on work. Kazeon had said many times that the documents were not to be read, only signed. Today, he thought; just today, I'd like to do that.
Tenpo and Kenren, side by side in the garden, watched the monkey scurry through the flowers.
"This is the way things should be, don't you think, Kenren?" Tenpo's eyes were lowered towards the ground, where Goku was setting out his picked flowers. The red-haired general did not look at the one so often called his wife, but only smiled up at the sky.
"Aa?"
"Yellow this week," Tenpo noted, still gazing at the flowers with a smile. He sighed before answering the question, eyes sliding shut as his smile grew warmer. "They're both very happy, with one another. Haven't you noticed?"
"Oh," Kenren replied, shaking his head. "You worry too much about him. But you're right. They do seem…."
"… Content," the Marshal breathed, his glasses catching the light, his little finger brushing against Kenren's palm.
The general paused , cheeks staining the same colour as his hair for half a moment, before his eyes narrowed, his grin slipped to one side, and he nodded.
"Aa. This is the way it should be."
Neither of them would be allowed to see Konzen smile upon receiving the bundle of bright yellow blooms with a nearly sickly-sweet aroma. He replaced the red ones accordingly, offering a soft grunt of thanks before running his fingers through Goku's hair.
"You're not bad, for a beast," he rumbled, thumb sliding over Goku's lower lip. "… not bad at all."
IV
"What the hell is this," Sanzo snarled, staring down his nose at the other three, who had the nerve to play when they were so miserably lost in the woods. Something was keeping them there. "You idiots are…."
"Sanzo," Goku chirped, happily hopping to his feet, and holding out a bundle of flowers to match the priest's eyes. They were violets. "We can eat these, you kno--OW! What was that for!"
The flowers scattered over their feet, Sanzo's fan clutched tightly in one hand as he narrowed his eyes on the bunch of them. "Only monkeys eat flowers," he snarled. "We'll find real food once we're out of this damn forest!"
Goku clenched his teeth, letting his head drop and his hair hide his eyes. "A-aa," he breathed, wetting his lips and turning his back towards the monk. "We ought to look around more, ne?"
Hakkai's smile had not faltered, as he got to his feet, resting one hand on Goku's shoulder. "Sanzo," he said, his tone almost motherly, chastising. "It only makes sense for us to gather our energy so that our search can prove fruitful, ne?"
Gojyo hauled himself up with a groan, tugging Goku against his chest and roughly tousling his hair, laughing for his sake. "Sanzo-sama, you ruined our splendid dinner," he teased, smile sliding to one side as he felt his laughter turn real in his chest.
Goku's eyes turned bright as he unleashed his smile on the monk's frowning face. Clenching a fist, he leapt onto Sanzo's back, arms sliding warm and familiar around his shoulders.
"Sanzo! You've got to eat something or else you'll get grumpy. We don't want to scare them off! Let's find a stream and I'll catch some fish and we'll look when it's still cool, in the morning!"
Gojyo's left brow twitched a little, his jaw going slack for a moment. "He wasn't grumpy just now?"
Hakkai, chuckling, closed his eyes as he smiled, shaking his head. "A sobering statement, don't you think?" They regarded one another in silence after that, the soft and hallow smile of one reflecting warmly in the lonely red eyes of the other. Sanzo threw Goku to the ground as their companions shared a gaze, growling to the beast and scolding him. Sanzo felt a heat flare up in his face when Goku got so close, and because he couldn't make sense of it, he was afraid of his touch perhaps more than any other. Goku's laughter rose in spite of his abuse.
"Sanzo! You're gonna wear yourself out soon! That's no good," the monkey cooed, resilient as ever in the face of scorn. "If you get too tired we'll have to go to bed without any food!"
"Idiot monkey! Is that all you ever think about?!"
"Hey! I'm not a monkey, damn it!"
"You are," Sanzo said with a rough snarl, "beast!"
"I said," howled the creature as he leapt for his sunshine, "I'm not!"
They fell to the ground in a tangle, rolling through the grass as they struggled together, almost child-like in the way they wrestled. Sanzo's voice rose in frustration when his gun slipped from his hands, and Goku planted himself firmly against his chest. The two of them breathed heavily, in unison, as the monkey sank down into the arms of the priest, safely hidden from the eyes of their companions.
"I'm not a monkey," he panted, sounding almost forlorn.
Pale but rough-skinned fingers slid through Goku's hair then, leather-clad palm cupping his cheek.
"You are a beast," replied the sharp-eyed blonde, sprawled on the grass.
"But Sanzo --"
"I haven't gotten rid of you, have I, beast?"
Goku nuzzled that hand for half a moment, his eyes beginning to burn. "I won't let you down, Sanzo," he swore, lips sliding over hot, salty skin.
"I know," Sanzo growled back, arms wrapping tightly about the little, trembling body against his chest.
V
"Which of us is the beast," he howled, cradling Konzen against his chest, the silken blonde sunlight growing dim. "Which of us…!"
Rocking back and forth, blood on his hands, Goku buried his face in the hair of the man who had shown him what affection could be. A choked cry slid through his clenched teeth, tears sliding from his eyes down his cheeks and off of his chin. Kenren had been struck down protecting the interests of the beast, his 'wife' at his side. Tenpo's rage had wiped out a good number of them, when he saw his companion fall, but before long his glasses, broken and blood-splattered, slid across the stone of the courtyard.
Kazeon Bosatsu scowled down her nose at the boy who had so changed Konzen, daring him to protest as the corpse was pulled from his arms. Soft blonde hair ripped almost easily from his scalp as Goku struggled to find a piece of hope to hang on to. The men around him laughed, hissing insults under his breath.
"Stupid beast," they said. "What a waste of effort."
It was with his eyes wide and his teeth bared that he felt his chains dissolve around him, and the screaming of his heart burst from his throat as he reached, blindly, for whatever he might find.
"Which of us is the beast," he asked, breathless, as he began his massacre. "Which of us dampened the sun!"
It was with a scream to shake the heavens that his diadem shattered, shards of deity-instilled bronze clattering to the cobblestone courtyard. Bright, innocent eyes narrowed on those who had stolen his Most Precious Thing, before they grew hungry and he bared his fangs. Lunging forward with his claws curving, trembling with the need to rip into flesh, Goku lost himself and truly became a beast.
His snarling cry echoed against the stone of the courtyard as numerous soldiers fell beneath his wrath. Even so, the Gods survived, and easily surrounded him, shackled his limbs, and returned him to his mind. Splattered with blood, he collapsed against her, the one who had entrusted him to Konzen (or perhaps, she had entrusted Konzen to him).
"This won't do, beast," she said softly. "It won't be any fun if you forget yourself now."
Mount Gogyo was cold and empty; a fitting punishment for a boy who had not known affection. He would miss it for however long it took, to return 'Konzen' to his side.
He sobbed when he awoke, peering through his prison at the rising sun, and begging it to stay where he would never need to let it go.
VI
"Shut up, Monkey," Sanzo hissed, holding the thrashing creature down with all his might, gun to its temple. This was not Goku. This would hurt him without thinking, and then destroy the world because of it. The beast grinned up at him, pausing mid-howl to laugh, before easily swatting him away.
The monk sailed, it seemed, for an eternity, though that eternity was barely more than two meters, where he fell and slid, scraping the delicate skin of his cheek along the hardwood floor.
It seemed to cling to him, squeaking in protest as he fell hard against its polished surface. He was glad he did not splinter, though the redness that arose from the friction would be angry and flushed for days. The burning spread to his jaw, its tingling heat reaching with outstretched fingers towards his slightly curving lips. To think, he thought, I have kissed this beast.
It leapt after him, as he rolled over. The creature that had stolen Goku from the monk launched himself onto Sanzo's chest, he threw a single punch to crush his skull. It easily could have, if Sanzo had not thought what he did.
The creature that had stolen Goku.
"Give him back," Sanzo snarled suddenly, palm landing against the forehead of the beast, who seemed shocked that he had been touched by such a man. "Idiot beast!"
The light that brought Goku back saw him shudder against Sanzo's chest, and the monk himself was unaware of all he had done. Deity-instilled bronze, back in place, glinted beneath Goku's rich, brown hair. Desperate to keep his eyes open, Goku's brow furrowed as he gazed up at Sanzo's face, trembling.
"I didn't put out the light," he breathed, fingers curling in Sanzo's hair. "I didn't dim the sun."
Something inside of Sanzo sparked and grew warm. The gentle licking that the monkey used on rainy days, when he thought Sanzo needed cheering was returned in an awkward way. Sanzo's lips brushed first Goku's forehead, then his cheeks, the tip of his nose, his lower lip, his chin, and lastly the curve of his neck where it met his shoulders. This soft, gentle kissing could coax the beast to sleep, if Sanzo was not careful.
He buried his face in Goku's hair, saying gently, "No, Goku. You made it brighter."
With a sigh of relief, the beast closed his eyes, suddenly deadweight in the arms of his savior. It was with uncharacteristically gentle hands that the blonde brushed Goku's hair from his eyes, hoisted him up, and carried him out to where the others were no doubt waiting.
"You make it want to rise in the morning," he breathed, "and make it hesitate to sink below the horizon." Turning his eyes towards the west, Sanzo wet his lips, and chanced a smile for only the clouds to see.
VII
Goku looked with untamed affection into the eyes of the man who brought him hope. "We've done this before," he said almost timidly, as though Sanzo would laugh. They had done no such thing. The blonde was stretched languidly out before him, kimono in an uncharacteristically crumpled pile on the floor, the palest of his flesh -- his chest -- bared to the cool air in their room. Short, thick fingers with rough-skinned pads slid down Sanzo's neck. The monk was remarkably soft to touch, though his gaze, as well as his heart, were hardened to most.
Goku wondered silently if this is the way that ice felt as it melted. Goku wondered if Sanzo's ice was special; if it would melt for no one but him. The blonde breathed in deeply, eyes sliding shut as he tilted his head back.
"Not exactly," he grunted, one hand gathering a clump of Goku's short, dark hair. "It was the other way around, then."
This memory was not alien to him, though it was not his own. Pulling the beast down, to lap at his lips as had so often been done to him, Sanzo showed Goku what licking meant to him, and the way a proper kiss could send shivers down one's spine. Goku's small, strong hands pressed against the chest to which he was being pulled, fingers flaring out over marble skin and rose nipples. The leather smelled of Sanzo, and soon, so would Goku.
Sanzo's breath was quick and thin, almost ragged as his hair slid back and away from his face. Goku was pulled close by needy hands and the curve of his young face was mouthed by needy lips. Unsure, at first, the beast laughed, letting his eyes slide shut with contentment. His heart beat quickly in his chest; it was an unfamiliar sensation to him, being winded. His breath was labored as he cautiously returned the nuzzling not-quite-kisses.
Sanzo's skin was salty and warm, and Goku's teeth slid over milky-white flesh, leaving large and angry red splotches in their wake. The bruising would be impossible to hide, at the top of his neck and over the shell of his ear. Sanzo, for perhaps the first time, did not care what the others would think. They would not leave his side, no matter his tastes.
Goku let the way Sanzo's muscles rippled and tensed and relaxed guide his hands, the soft moans that laced the monk's breath his reward for learning so quickly. Moving over Sanzo with uncharacteristic care, Goku's lips trailed from his face down his neck, and lingered against his shoulders.
"I'm not a beast," he growled, hands dropping to Sanzo's hips, tugging at the leather that covered him.
"You're mine," Sanzo said suddenly, a harshness in his voice that had not been there in a long, long while. Goku paused, then, staring up at the blonde with large amber eyes. The beast smiled, eyes narrowing, and shook his head.
"No, Sanzo," he said, drawing another moan from the monk as he peeled the leather away from his thighs. "You are mine."
Sanzo's hands rose to Goku's hair once more, as his skin was bared to the moonlight, eyes closed. "Which of us is the pet?"
"You are," Goku said, without hesitation and an unfamiliar growl. "You're the pet, Sanzo."
With that, the beast lowered his lips to the curve of his savior's hip, fingers stretching to reach his already-hardened nipples. There was no hesitation on the part of either of them, Goku's lips, teeth, and tongue proving to Sanzo just how in control the one he called 'beast' was.
Reduced to trembling, the monk clutched at the sheets, back arching with animalistic grace against the mattress. Goku, triumphant, laughed against his blonde's neck, kissing the curve of his jaw as he panted, "You're the pet, Genjo Sanzo. You belong to me."
"This is the way it should be," Kazeon Bosatsu said with a laugh. "Wasn't that fun?"
The west, they would find, was not so far away after all.