Jigen gently batted Goemon's hand away. "You don't have to baby me. I'm fine."

Goemon set the wet cloth aside and sighed. "Why will you not allow me to care for you? You look terrible."

Jigen sat against the wall, sweat dampening his red face. Lifting his hat a moment to wipe away the slick hair, he tried to sit up straighter. "I'm fine, I just drank too much. Like I always do." Pushing himself to his feet, he flushed the toilet and walked out.

Goemon knew he could do nothing to argue and let it alone, following Jigen out of the bathroom. "Fine. Then rest well."

"Who's sleeping?" Jigen grinned, reaching for another bottle of beer from beside his bed.

"No more!" Goemon said, chopping at Jigen's arm and catching the falling bottle with his other hand.

"You should… be more careful with your health." Goemon tried not to harp on the matter too much, but sometimes, he wished Jigen would cut down on the tobacco and alcohol. He put his hands on Jigen's shoulders, forcibly pushing the drunken man onto the bed. "You will rest now."

Jigen's eyes lost their haze as he smirked. "Only if you join me," he said, only half-teasing.

Goemon was thankful for the scarce lighting, his face flushing. He was a light sleeper and it would be a way to be certain Jigen would stay in bed. On the other hand, it was risky. "Will you be good?"

Jigen snorted. "No." Jigen pulled Goemon down by the wrists and half-slobbered on, half-kissed Goemon's lips. He wondered if he was more drunk than he thought when he felt Goemon hesitate.

His body relaxing, Goemon gave in, chastising himself in the back of his mind for accepting the ideas of a very drunk Jigen. Their tongues twirled like a ballerina evading her own reflection, mostly because Jigen wasn't entirely sure what he was doing at that moment. The samurai pulled back, catching his breath before he spoke. "Not while you are drunk." He wiped his lips before settling himself beside Jigen, a hand on the gunman's chest. "I should have given you water. You taste like bile."

"Don't care," Jigen mumbled, sloppily waving a hand in the air. "Too tired. You can clean my mouth for me."

Goemon was caught unaware by the next kiss, his eyes swelling. He supposed it was alright, just until Jigen got tired enough to go to sleep. The taste of bile wasn't so bad; it was still Jigen, after all. He guided Jigen's temporarily awkward lips, thankful that the gunman was letting him just hold him for a while.

Jigen was sick of walking on thin ice around Lupin. He wasn't going to let a little thing like being wasted interrupt the little time he got with Goemon. He didn't like being cosseted so much, but that was only a matter of principle. On some nights, he just didn't care. It was still Goemon, after all.

Jigen's eyes opened with a start when he felt himself being lifted none to gently. He threw himself to his feet once more and glared at Goemon, who looked just as surprised.

"Get the fuck off him!" Lupin growled, slamming his fist into Jigen's cheek and sending him to the ground. "What are you doing!?"

Goemon tried to collect himself. He'd always known Lupin would react badly, but he didn't understand that reaction.

Jigen coughed, battling nausea for a moment before sitting up. "What did it look like I was doing? Something that's none of your business."

"None of my business?" Lupin repeated in a voice ebbed with madness. "That's what they all say, isn't it? I never thought you would be this kind of person, Jigen." Lupin shook his head in disgust. "Never."

Goemon had to take responsibility. It was all his fault, he thought as his eyes stung. He shouldn't have done anything with Jigen while he was so drunk, and there was no lock on the door to that room. "Lupin… if you wish, I will leave by morning."

Lupin turned to the samurai, staring him down. "Don't you ever say that. It's not your fault, Goemon. You didn't ask for this creep to put his hands on you."

"What are you talking about?" Jigen groaned from the floor. "I was kissing him, not raping him."

Lupin sobbed, taking out his gun with shaky hands. "I'll kill you, you fucking pedophile."

"What?" Goemon said, feeling sick. "Lupin, we are… life partners. I have asked him to touch me… several times," he admitted with a blush. "And he is not a creep."

Lupin couldn't restrain the tears streaming down his face in a rage. "You're too young to understand, Goemon. It's not your fault."

Startled by such behavior, Goemon got out of bed, not making any sudden movements. "You are not making any sense. I am not a child. I am thirty-two."

"Shut up!" Lupin spat. "This… disgusting pederast has brainwashed you. I should have looked after you. You were just a kid. Now… now you're a victim. I'm sorry." He couldn't take it anymore and wiped the tears from his face.

Goemon took the opportunity to grab Lupin's gun and aim it at the floor. "Calm down."

Lupin shook his head. "It's my fault… I shouldn't have let him share a room with you. You're ten years apart, it's too much." The gun fell from Lupin's hand as he stared into the abyss. "It's my fault," he said in a haunted whisper as something inside of him snapped. He bent down to take the gun once more, Jigen too off-balance to grab it first and Goemon too confused to know what to do.

"Forgive me, Goemon. Forgive me." He took hold of Goemon's neck, giving him a look of brotherly or even fatherly affection.

Jigen crawled over when he heard the splatters, his limbs almost too frozen to do so. "No…" He was too out of it to hold back the bitter tears. "Why? Why'dis haben?" He leaned down to kiss the lips that began to grow cold as he touched them—cold like the feeling in his heart.

"It'll be okay. We'll make it through this," the other promised.

Jigen raised his head, the tears drying in the breeze that had run in from the window. He nodded, letting himself melt into his mouth, his embrace.

Goemon pushed him away, wiping his lips. "You should drink some water. You taste like blood."

They cuddled throughout the night, cold in their hearts, but warm in eachother's arms. They would deal with the corpse and the fallout the next day. They had eachother in the meanwhile, and that was all that mattered.