Disclaimer: Not mine. These lovely characters belong to the indomitable Minekura Kazuya. All hail. I'm just borrowing for a brief moment in time.
Comment: This was not actually written with shounen-ai in mind. This was just a character interaction I envisioned. But feel free to see whatever you wish. I don't mind! *cackle* I, myself, might see more into it after several readings… I'm so fangirlish that way!
Author's notes: The idea for this ficlet came to me one night before I fell asleep and demanded to be written. And one cannot deny their muse, ne? ^.~ And I apologize for any OOCness. Those characters that pride themselves on being hard-asses *coughKonzencoughSanzocough* are notoriously hard to keep in character. *grin* I hope this lil' ficcie is enjoyable anyway.
And away we go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If looks could kill, his desk would be a stack of firewood and the pile of paperwork upon it nothing more than shredded strands of pulp and fibers.
Of course, if looks really could kill, his interfering, hag of an aunt would have ceased to exist a very long time ago. And her damn pointless paperwork would have vanished with her.
Now that was an immensely satisfying thought indeed.
Konzen sighed quietly and leaned back in his chair. The blond-haired man brought a hand to his temple, rubbing lightly. He felt the beginnings of a rather excruciating headache. Staring at meaningless sheaves of paper for hours on end often had this effect on him. It was going to be one of those days.
How irritating.
…
Speaking of irritating…
He hadn't seen the saru since breakfast this morning. And since the brat usually stopped in once or twice every hour or so to make a nuisance of himself, Konzen decided that his so-called "pet" was highly conspicuous by his absence.
Who knew what the little monkey could be up to?
The heavenly being set down his pen, intent on searching out the errant saru. After a moment's hesitation, he picked it up again. Damn it, he had more important things to do than seek out misplaced monkeys. In fact, the blessed quiet and solitude created in the saru's absence was the perfect opportunity to attend to the wretched stack of documents in front of him.
He twirled the writing utensil in his grip, determined to ignore the voice that hinted at worry and responsibility for the youth placed in his care.
It wasn't like he wanted to be accountable for the damn monkey.
Of course, that reasoning was hardly winning a grand victory over the thoughts of concern running through his head. A head that was beginning to hurt more with each frustrating minute that ticked by without the presence of an unruly mop of brown locks, eyes bright with curiosity and mischief, and lips curved in an innocent smile. A presence that was infinitely more likeable than these bothersome documents.
Likeable?
…
Damn that hag.
This was all her fault.
Konzen Douji was rapidly becoming one disgruntled celestial. He set the pen down on the desk and raised both hands to his head, rubbing his temples in tight circles in a vain attempt to alleviate the throbbing pressure.
Just as he promised himself to tear strips off the saru's hide for his indirect part in the conception of this headache, the door to his office was pushed open by the force exerted from an overly excited body.
A body that just happened to belong to the object of the celestial's aggravated and disconcerted thoughts.
"Konzen! Look what I have!" Goku fairly burst into the room, immediately heading for the man seated behind the office's massive desk.
The blond winced as his door slammed against the opposite wall with the force of Goku's enthusiasm. The crash, as well as the energized pitch of Goku's voice, sounded amplified to jarring proportions in the celestial's aching head. "Damn it, saru! Do you have to be so loud?"
Goku ignored the irritated tone in his guardian's voice and placed himself at the man's side, practically wiggling in glee and pleasure at the news and information on the day's events that he had to share.
Son Goku had a tendency to treat everything around him with innocent reverence and delighted in even the most mundane of things. If such things made him so happy, they were bound to make others feel the same, right? So, he enjoyed sharing his experiences with the ones most important to him. And Konzen Douji just happened to be at the top of the list of important persons in the young saru's life…whether the celestial wished for the position or not. As such, Goku planned to tell Konzen all about his activities thus far today.
Whether Konzen wanted to hear it or not.
And lately he had a sneaking suspicion the saru had gotten it into his head that he, Konzen, was in extra need of feeling cheerful. Which, of course, was quite ridiculous. Sure, the headache could go. But cheerful? The celestial snorted and placed his forehead in his cupped palm as he listened to Goku prattle on about his day.
At least that damn sensation of worry had abated. And he absolutely refused to ponder what that meant.
"So Ten-chan let me run around in his library! I kind of made a mess of some of his books, but he didn't mind! At least, he didn't hit me in the head like you do, Konzen. And then Ten-chan let me look through the books, and I told him I liked this one and he said I could take it and show it to you and that maybe you'd read it with me. Would you Konzen? I'd really like that!" Goku held the book up for inspection, artlessly unaware of his audience's growing exasperation.
Damn, but the monkey could chatter! Konzen moved the hand from his face slightly, showing one irritated violet eye to the prattling monkey. "Can't you see that I'm busy, saru? Go away!" He resolutely ignored the niggling voice that insisted he'd wished for the saru's presence not even five minutes ago.
Okay, so he knew Goku wasn't wandering around causing random chaos in Tenkai now. That's all he had wanted to confirm. Right? Now the saru could leave and give his aching head a break.
Goku lowered his present and stared at the blond curiously. "Are you okay, Konzen?"
The celestial raised his head, gritted his teeth, and glared at the young creature before him. "You're giving me a headache, brat. I don't have time to coddle you!"
The brown-haired youth blinked up at his appointed caretaker. His unwavering gold gaze took in the pinched lips, strained violet orbs, and fingers that continued to massage an obviously sore temple. It was evident that Konzen was in some sort of pain, and that the pain was concentrated in his head.
Goku decided he didn't like the thought of his sun in pain.
The youth reached out and carefully grasped the gold hair on each side of Konzen's head in his fingers, pulling with gentle strength. He raised himself onto his tiptoes and when the goal was within reach, placed a soft, tender kiss on the celestial's forehead.
He stood there for a long moment in time, which was in actuality nothing more than the passing flicker of a few precious seconds, before he stepped back and stared guilelessly at the man before him.
Konzen blinked. Then blinked again. He opened his mouth, but before his expression could darken completely, Goku smiled and explained.
"Once when I scraped my arm while climbing the sakura tree outside, Ten-chan bandaged up my cut. He placed a kiss on his fingers, and then placed his fingers on the cloth. He told me that people who care about someone that is hurt often do that to help make the hurt heal faster. And I care about you, Konzen! And I put it directly on your hurt, too! So…did it help?" He smiled again and tilted his head to the side, awaiting his answer.
Konzen closed his mouth with an audible snap and stared speculatively at the young saru with the innocent golden gaze. When the youth continued to blink up at him in curiosity, he sighed and turned his face away. He raised one hand and placed it on Goku's head, ruffling the hair there so quickly and lightly that one would be hard pressed to say it happened at all. He turned his body away as well and picked up his pen once more.
"I need to finish this paperwork, chibi saru. Leave me alone."
Goku nodded, smiling as he noted the slight easing of tone in the celestial's voice. "Okay, Konzen! I'll go find Ken-nii-chan!" He placed the book under his arm and bounced towards the door.
"Saru." When Goku paused and looked back him, Konzen continued, "You can show me the book later."
Goku grinned brightly. "Okay!" He turned and ran out the door, pulling it closed behind him.
Konzen winced when the door closed with a loud snap in the wake of the youth's eagerness. "Damn brat," he muttered.
The blond continued to grumble under his breath, absently running his fingers over his forehead. When he realized what he was doing, he cursed loudly.
…
Damn that hag!
This was all her fault!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End.
*blinks* Hmm…well, at least the kiss on the forehead came out as I envisioned it. Not sure about the rest, though. I guess I can live with it. ^.~
The part where Goku prattles on about wanting Konzen to read with him was inspired by a picture that featured a cute lil' Goku-chan looking at a book while sprawled over Konzen's lap. Heh. I wouldn't mind reading a book while sprawled in Konzen's lap. No, no. I wouldn't mind at all. *cackle*
So…let me know what ya think, ne? =^.^=