Disclaimer: All characters from Saiyuki, Saiyuki Gaiden and any other incarnation of them belong to the all amazing all wonderful Minekura Kazuya. Not written for profit but for sheer love of these characters
Dedication: For a wonderful friend (not to mention beta reader extraordinaire! - although I added stuff after her edits so any infringements, grammatical or otherwise are mine! all mine!)
Also for: Seagull. I miss you! Love and hugs!...ermm ok enjoy!
In Between or Once, Thrice and Eternity by Zan
…
Once in a time before …
The Commander of the Western Armies eyed the Kami before him with disdain and something veiled. It could be a mix of barely reined-in anger and a dangerous touch of frustration. Dishevelled, bloodied, bruised and barefoot, Kenren did not look the picture of a General in Heaven's Army. Still Kenren was HIS general. Not that Goujun wanted to lay claim personally to his staff, Generals and (or) Marshals!
In his mind, Goujun palmed his forehead and sighed. He narrowed his eyes.
Kenren, with his back to the bars of the gaol, must have felt the scrutiny like a physical push. He was not one to cower from a challenge, nevertheless backed into the bars of the cell. He could move no more. He was not certain that he wanted to be this close to his commanding officer, grateful as he was for his release.
He had to admit to the grace of the Dragon King's bearing, the odd beauty of the pale skin, silver hair and scales. For a moment, he entertained a personal notion of Goujun's 'true' form and wondered what the being at the core of the one who stood before him was really like.
Like something possessed – he was going to claim that later anyway – he grabbed fistfuls of dragon cloak and pulled Goujun close.
Goujun, taken aback remained dignified and quiet. He narrowed he eyes further, but that was all the reaction he gave away. He leaned in closer to Kenren - who had gone quite still - to smooth his cheek against his general's cheek and take in his scent.
"What would you have me do General?" The Dragon King hissed angrily in Kenren's ear.
"Your nobility is quite something to watch and your actions admirable. But, I cannot be seen to be making a habit of coming to your rescue." Goujun ground out his predicament. The notion of duty wrapped round the Dragon King as much as his ever present cloak.
"Li Touten is a dangerous man and he has marked you and those you hold dear for scapegoats." Goujun inhaled and breathed out slowly. "You are in MY army, under MY command and I will not have us made fools of," his voice now low, soft and dangerous.
"Is that it?" Kenren's hands fell to his side, still backed against the bars. "We are just your men, like mere pawns to you?"
Perhaps it was the nearness, perhaps he just loved living dangerously, or perhaps it was offered –Kenren brushed his lips upon the other's cheek. He was surprised at the coolness, the feel of rough scale and smooth skin. The variances in texture left a pleasant sensation.
"Or are we dear to you too?" The General risked a question of his own. "You risk much hauling me out of here, you risk much each time you speak on our behalf."
Before Goujun could answer, footsteps tapped slowly from the far end of the corridor. He could not pull away though, because Kenren snaked an arm around his waist and with the other arm over his shoulder pulled him closer … tighter.
"All those under my wing and watch are dear to me," was the flat reply.
"What would you have me do now?" Kenren whispered in Goujun's ear. "Sir," he added on as an afterthought and could not resist another touch of the cool-smooth-roughness with his lips.
"Are you trying to provoke me?" Goujun breathed out. His voice a low and slow, "if so, you're bad at it."
"Or should I simply ask for 'orders'?" Kenren spoke softly.
"I could ask you to leave this matter alone," was the terse reply. "But – overblown now as it is and marked as you are it is probably too late." Goujun's voice was almost apologetic, "I don't think there's anything that can be done."
The Dragon King would not be able to say later if he remembered the press of his General's bony ribs, because it left faint traces upon his clothes, in smudges of dried blood.
"All that's left is to enjoy the moments eh!"
The silver hair flopped soft and tickled Kenren's ears. The Kami risked a run through it and felt that odd skin sensation of the scalp, this time under his fingertips. He spread his palm, fit his three middle fingers between an ear and a horn and rubbed his thumb just below the ear.
"I would not deign to come between you and your," Goujun paused to think, "Marshal" Through half lidded eyes and breathing deeply as if to take in with all of his senses this odd in-between moment. The trace of metal in Kenren's blood, the salt in the perspiration dried on his collarbone, and the subtle remnant of sakura and cigarette smoke, which seemed to be an intrinsic part of his General.
All the while Kenren kept his eyes open as if by looking directly into Goujun's eyes he could gauge some measure of understanding into the psyche of this tall and beautiful but strange creature. They were also a nice shade of crimson flecked with a darker shade of the same tinted with black. It was oddly intriguing and Kenren reckoned it could be easy to lose yourself in those eyes. It would be like dancing on a knife-edge.
It is difficult when things are not clearly marked – as ink upon a page. Look closely though, and he might see the ink as it seeped into the paper – like a blood trail, from the faintest of traces to its darkened point of origin. Goujun wondered to himself. Did he ever think to look closely? 'Too late' – and the words chased around head-to-tail in his mind.
The footsteps he heard earlier stopped and Goujun knew that his field marshal was behind him. The hand in the middle of his back was firm and he did not feel threatened by the touch at all. He felt the leanness of the palm through the cloak and his shirt. He was uncertain whether the delicacy of the fingers was a memory or an actuality.
"Light and dark, you are light and dark." Tenpou spoke in a whispered singsong. "O if you could see how beautiful you look."
"I am surprised to see you here," the marshal continued. "But, perhaps not. Not really," now he sounded amused.
Goujun leaned into the touch in a move so slight, he could fool himself into thinking he did not react at all. Although, he could not lie to himself - nor to the others - that in order to find balance he had to shift his legs a little.
"Don't worry, I got you," Kenren's voice came towards him. It seemed distant even though his general's lips were by his ear, and perhaps because Kenren's fingers, still in his hair, tickled playfully at the base of his horn.
"… and I you," came a voice in his other ear. Two hands rubbed at his shoulders reassuringly.
He wondered where this trail would lead. A very small part of him did not care, for the moment. Another small part of him wanted very much to be home. Home was not complicated and other dragons – brothers, father and uncles – were not complicated. Not like Kami. Pressed between two errant children Goujun noted that Tenpou's scent was a musk-flavoured version of his General. It was the same air imbued with cherry blossoms and cigarette smoke. Absorbed differently into the laboratory coat – a second skin on Tenpou – it resulted in the diversion from that skin-on-leather essence that was Kenren.
"Enough of this," Goujun all but growled. He pushed himself away from Kenren and shrugged off Tenpou brusquely. Each smell, taste and touch, the sight of Kenren's dark eyes up close and Tenpou's precise, soft tones stored in mind.
"I must get back upstairs and see what damage can be salvaged, if any." Goujun, Dragon King, Commander of Heaven's Western Armies stepped away from General Kenren and Field Marshal Tenpou. With a clipped nod, he turned on his heels. Eventually the echoes of his steps died away.
"Come on then," Kenren slung an arm over Tenpou. "Are you going to help me back up – or what?"
Tenpou looked over with sly smile.
Twice – upon the other one time in Heaven…
Tenpou wondered - with chin tucked over Goujun's right shoulder, sword in one hand and gun in the other – if Goujun kept the memory of how they fit then in the corridors of Heaven's dungeons, in their flight from the throne room.
Thrice – upon the other one time in Heaven…
Kenren tried not to think of the feel of silken hair, soft skin and scale as he bled from a gash on his head. They were face-to-face again. Not dungeons this time but corridors filled with tainted abominations. The gun was sleek and cool in his hand, far from what bubbled on the surface of his heart. He took aim and carefully misfired.
"You never change. Still provoking me and still bad at it," the trail led him here.
The Commander of the Western Armies eyed the Kami before him with something akin to anger and fear, but not quite. Kenren was dishevelled, bloodied and bruised. Goujun recalled a time before. He could taste the trace of metals in the tang of blood from a gash in Kenren's head. The way the blood ran, it looked like he was crying tears of blood and anger.
… And Eternity …
"Ow!" Gojyo swatted at the flying thing. "Will you settle?"
"I'm trying to dress your wing, now stop trying to bite me!"
Hakkai looked in. He just finished tending Sanzo's injuries and satisfied that as usual that Goku escaped with only slight bruising this time.
"Gojyo…" he spoke softly. "You have to be gentle with him, and speak to him nicely." He smiled slyly. "I'm sure he will be more compliant then."
"Pffft!" came a snuffled snort.
"Heh!" was the indignant reply. "Yeah right!"
Fin