***For Body Heat***
One thing to remember about crossing from China into India is that you are bound to cover endless seas of sand, contrasted with having to brave mountains daring to pierce high as Heaven. The members of the Sanzo-ikkou have weathered their fair share of desert travel, and will again, but their most recent path led them once more to one of those peaks. A snowy peak, rough with wind and driving snow.
Hakuryuu's jeep form had been abandoned quickly, the dragon forced to curl about his master's neck for warmth rather than fly out in the open. Hakkai, Gojyo, Sanzo, and Goku, all dressed snuggly in extra layers, shared the load of their packs and trudged on, up into the mountains, straight to the even harsher top. About a quarter mile from the visible peak, they discovered a deserted cabin, worn and run-down, but sturdy against the raging storm. They have since set up camp inside to wait the storm out.
Sanzo, as always, sits beside the lone window with a cigarette, his smoldering eyes daring the flakes to snow them in; Goku, content after ravaging through their provisions, snoozes languidly in the corner, having fallen asleep on Sanzo's discarded robes (which he will, of course, have to answer for in the morning); Hakkai sits reading on the floor with untouchably modest grace, his back against the far wall, while their fire rests securely a few feet in front of him; and Gojyo, adhered to his addiction much like Sanzo, walks the space of the floor with a cigarette hanging from his mouth--a mouth that so often is associated with something sinister.
"Oi, Hakkai, how can you even think in this cold, let alone read?" the kappa asks, plopping down next to his friend and resting back against the wall with an overly dramatic sigh of fatigue.
Hakkai smiles, not bothering to look up from his pages. "Reading, Gojyo, helps me forget the cold exists. Besides, our fire is warm enough. It's Sanzo who seems in some alien way impartial."
Taking a slow drag, Gojyo looks across the room at the lanky blonde sitting beside the window--the furthest spot from the fire. Damn monk isn't even wearing his robes! He should at least be shivering.
Perhaps his warmth comes from the combination of smoke-filled lungs and the three beers he had at dinner.
"Ch', you have an answer for everything." Gojyo teases, leaving the cig in his mouth as he leans his head back and closes his eyes, trying in vain to soak up some of the fire's warmth. He had thought sitting near the fire AND Hakkai would be a double dose with the excess of body heat, but that theory has yet to pan out.
Hakkai notices Gojyo shudder out of the corner of his eye and casts him a fleeting glance, still immersed in his reading. "If you're cold you should put on another layer. I'm sure there's something left in the packs."
As it stands now, Goku is wearing the sweater he had snatched, presumably an old one of Sanzo's (something else he will have to answer for), Hakkai has slipped on a long sleeved, dark green shirt and white sweater, Sanzo has 'suffered cold worse than this', and Gojyo is wearing a long-sleeved, *blue* shirt--no sweater.
Gojyo contemplates his friend's advice, but waves his hand in dismissal; he doesn't want to have to get up.
A corner of Hakkai's mouth twitches into an honestly amused smile, but he continues reading, every few moments turning to a new page. Gojyo continues smoking beside him, both ignorant to the time and uncaring.
After turning to a new chapter, the pause between constant storyline draws Hakkai's attention back to the man beside him. Particularly to his feet. "Gojyo, why aren't you wearing socks? Shoes I can understand going without, but socks? The parts of the body that lose heat quickest and easiest are the head and feet. No wonder you're cold."
"Whatever you say, Sensei." Gojyo grins back, poking fun at his friend's minor tutorial. "Who are you to talk, anyway? You're not wearing socks, either."
"I'm not cold."
"Maybe...or you're just a masochist."
"Or that." Hakkai humors, and then slips back into his story.
Gojyo peaks around to see the cover: Burmese Days. He has vague recollection of the title, but figures it to be some humanizing novel about something he couldn't give a damn about. Books rarely interest him, except for back on those nights when he and Hakkai were first getting to know each other and the brunette would read to him out of some honored classic. Gojyo smiles at the memory. He had rather enjoyed Treasure Island, though to this day he still relates more to the pirates.
"What are you grinning about? Dreaming all ready?"
Realizing he has closed his eyes again, Gojyo opens them and sits up straighter before turning his head to raise an auspicious eyebrow. "I thought you were reading."
That smile again. "I am." And he is, though the book has been placed to rest on his legs now, his knees pulled up with his feet flat on the floor, and he turns the pages somewhat noncomittingly.
Gojyo smiles wider but leaves things be, titling his head to look over at Goku in the corner. To be honest, Gojyo is pretty much on top of that corner; the saru's blanket-covered feet are barely an inch away from his own.
The boy rests with his head and shoulders on Sanzo's robes, the oversized sweater gathered up high on his neck, and the blanket pulled tightly all around him. He looks dwarfed, and for one already so small, it paints a picture like a small child sleeping in daddy's bed.
The sight would be humbling if Gojyo didn't know just how sharp the boy's bark AND bite can be.
Still freezing, though warmed bit by bit by his cigarette and the closeness of the fire and his two companions, Gojyo tries to forget it like Hakkai. He fails. He never was very good at visualizing. Shivering again, he begins reaching up to pluck out his cigarette for a few good puffs. No, not one for visualizing. Gojyo is a man of action, after all, believing in reality--in what he can see and smell and...feel. Feel...as he feels the sudden warmth of foreign skin touching his.
The hand reaching up to his mouth freezes midair, the other left resting palm down between him and Hakkai. Hakkai...
Hakkai is no longer reading his book, though his outside hand still grasps the page he is about to turn. His eyes look out--forward, unfocused. His free hand, the one that had also been resting palm down between himself and Gojyo, is now turned up as he ever so gently begins to slip it beneath Gojyo's.
First the pinky and ring finger find themselves lifted to make room, and the others follow, until Hakkai's hand is completely beneath and he laces his fingers through, forming a loose hold.
Gojyo does not respond in kind, and takes a good moment to remember what it means to breathe or move. He eventually finishes the trek to his mouth and plucks the cigarette free before crushing it into the floor and leaving it there. When he at last turns his head to look at Hakkai, the brunette has gone back to reading, and shows absolutely no readable expression on his face. As if nothing has happened. As if he ISN'T holding Gojyo's hand.
"Hakkai --"
"Are you feeling any warmer?" Hakkai interrupts, apparently undaunted by Gojyo's refusal to clasp his hand in return. "Cold can do funny things to a person's mind, you know? Like heat. I wouldn't want you to freeze or go mad."
Speaking of going mad. "Hakkai --"
"I suppose it is getting late, isn't it? I'll only finish this one last chapter then."
"Hakkai --"
"I do hope we'll have an easier time traveling tomorrow. Poor Hakuryuu couldn't stand the cold. He's curled up in my other shirt, I believe --"
"Hakkai!"
Hakkai stops rambling and looks up from his book, placing a gaze on Gojyo that radiates gentle affection, with a smile far more genuine than most ever allow themselves to be. "Yes, Gojyo?"
Gojyo's mind draws an immediate blank. What had he meant to say? 'Please let go of my hand.'? 'Why ARE you holding my hand?'? 'Are you fucking out of your mind!?!'?
Hmm. Not the best approach. And, honestly, not at all how Gojyo is feeling.
Meeting that emerald gaze, Gojyo can't help smiling back, and slowly...he matches Hakkai's grip, fitting their hands together. "You could have just asked." He grins, rather enjoying the feel of Hakkai's hand in his now that he has gotten over his initial shock.
Hakkai laughs lightly and closes the book, setting it down beside him. "Where would the fun be in that?" he teases, stroking his thumb along the smooth skin of Gojyo's hand. "Scientifically speaking, sharing body heat is the best way to stay the affects of cold. My intentions are completely honorable."
"Really, now? I'm gonna have to remember that line." Gojyo jests back. "Though I doubt any self-respecting woman would fall for it."
Again, a laugh. "You must be a bad influence on me."
"ON you, huh? Let's talk about that..."
"I think it's time for bed, Gojyo."
"My thoughts exactly."
"SLEEP, Gojyo."
Gojyo's grin discovers a spark of its true, sinister nature. "We'll get there..." And he leans towards Hakkai, intent on capturing a little more skin contact in order to banish any lingering traces of cold.
Click.
Gojyo pauses, and both he and Hakkai turn their faces out to meet a very common though unwelcome site: the business end of Sanzo's gun.
"If you two start going at it, I swear I will shoot you both." He hisses, eyes aflame and arm rock-steady. "NOT while we're sharing the same room. Understand?"
Hakkai smiles sheepishly and nods, and Gojyo offers an indignant solute while mumbling something like 'Yes, master,' rather sarcastically.
Needless to say, as Sanzo lies down near the fire AWAY from the others, Gojyo and Hakkai lay down right where they are, close enough to the fire and each other to not require a blanket.
After a moment's hesitation, Hakkai pulls Gojyo in against him so that the redhead's head is tucked under his chin. "For body heat." He clarifies, not expecting Gojyo to believe him and knowing now that it no longer matters.
"Body heat. Right." Gojyo grins, laying an arm across Hakkai's waist. "So...about having our own room..."
owari
A/N: Awww. Doesn't it just make you think fluffy thought? Short and sweet. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten "Don't Speak," but I needed a slight break. The next chapter will be up soon, I swear. Hope you all enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW. Love you!
~Crimson
One thing to remember about crossing from China into India is that you are bound to cover endless seas of sand, contrasted with having to brave mountains daring to pierce high as Heaven. The members of the Sanzo-ikkou have weathered their fair share of desert travel, and will again, but their most recent path led them once more to one of those peaks. A snowy peak, rough with wind and driving snow.
Hakuryuu's jeep form had been abandoned quickly, the dragon forced to curl about his master's neck for warmth rather than fly out in the open. Hakkai, Gojyo, Sanzo, and Goku, all dressed snuggly in extra layers, shared the load of their packs and trudged on, up into the mountains, straight to the even harsher top. About a quarter mile from the visible peak, they discovered a deserted cabin, worn and run-down, but sturdy against the raging storm. They have since set up camp inside to wait the storm out.
Sanzo, as always, sits beside the lone window with a cigarette, his smoldering eyes daring the flakes to snow them in; Goku, content after ravaging through their provisions, snoozes languidly in the corner, having fallen asleep on Sanzo's discarded robes (which he will, of course, have to answer for in the morning); Hakkai sits reading on the floor with untouchably modest grace, his back against the far wall, while their fire rests securely a few feet in front of him; and Gojyo, adhered to his addiction much like Sanzo, walks the space of the floor with a cigarette hanging from his mouth--a mouth that so often is associated with something sinister.
"Oi, Hakkai, how can you even think in this cold, let alone read?" the kappa asks, plopping down next to his friend and resting back against the wall with an overly dramatic sigh of fatigue.
Hakkai smiles, not bothering to look up from his pages. "Reading, Gojyo, helps me forget the cold exists. Besides, our fire is warm enough. It's Sanzo who seems in some alien way impartial."
Taking a slow drag, Gojyo looks across the room at the lanky blonde sitting beside the window--the furthest spot from the fire. Damn monk isn't even wearing his robes! He should at least be shivering.
Perhaps his warmth comes from the combination of smoke-filled lungs and the three beers he had at dinner.
"Ch', you have an answer for everything." Gojyo teases, leaving the cig in his mouth as he leans his head back and closes his eyes, trying in vain to soak up some of the fire's warmth. He had thought sitting near the fire AND Hakkai would be a double dose with the excess of body heat, but that theory has yet to pan out.
Hakkai notices Gojyo shudder out of the corner of his eye and casts him a fleeting glance, still immersed in his reading. "If you're cold you should put on another layer. I'm sure there's something left in the packs."
As it stands now, Goku is wearing the sweater he had snatched, presumably an old one of Sanzo's (something else he will have to answer for), Hakkai has slipped on a long sleeved, dark green shirt and white sweater, Sanzo has 'suffered cold worse than this', and Gojyo is wearing a long-sleeved, *blue* shirt--no sweater.
Gojyo contemplates his friend's advice, but waves his hand in dismissal; he doesn't want to have to get up.
A corner of Hakkai's mouth twitches into an honestly amused smile, but he continues reading, every few moments turning to a new page. Gojyo continues smoking beside him, both ignorant to the time and uncaring.
After turning to a new chapter, the pause between constant storyline draws Hakkai's attention back to the man beside him. Particularly to his feet. "Gojyo, why aren't you wearing socks? Shoes I can understand going without, but socks? The parts of the body that lose heat quickest and easiest are the head and feet. No wonder you're cold."
"Whatever you say, Sensei." Gojyo grins back, poking fun at his friend's minor tutorial. "Who are you to talk, anyway? You're not wearing socks, either."
"I'm not cold."
"Maybe...or you're just a masochist."
"Or that." Hakkai humors, and then slips back into his story.
Gojyo peaks around to see the cover: Burmese Days. He has vague recollection of the title, but figures it to be some humanizing novel about something he couldn't give a damn about. Books rarely interest him, except for back on those nights when he and Hakkai were first getting to know each other and the brunette would read to him out of some honored classic. Gojyo smiles at the memory. He had rather enjoyed Treasure Island, though to this day he still relates more to the pirates.
"What are you grinning about? Dreaming all ready?"
Realizing he has closed his eyes again, Gojyo opens them and sits up straighter before turning his head to raise an auspicious eyebrow. "I thought you were reading."
That smile again. "I am." And he is, though the book has been placed to rest on his legs now, his knees pulled up with his feet flat on the floor, and he turns the pages somewhat noncomittingly.
Gojyo smiles wider but leaves things be, titling his head to look over at Goku in the corner. To be honest, Gojyo is pretty much on top of that corner; the saru's blanket-covered feet are barely an inch away from his own.
The boy rests with his head and shoulders on Sanzo's robes, the oversized sweater gathered up high on his neck, and the blanket pulled tightly all around him. He looks dwarfed, and for one already so small, it paints a picture like a small child sleeping in daddy's bed.
The sight would be humbling if Gojyo didn't know just how sharp the boy's bark AND bite can be.
Still freezing, though warmed bit by bit by his cigarette and the closeness of the fire and his two companions, Gojyo tries to forget it like Hakkai. He fails. He never was very good at visualizing. Shivering again, he begins reaching up to pluck out his cigarette for a few good puffs. No, not one for visualizing. Gojyo is a man of action, after all, believing in reality--in what he can see and smell and...feel. Feel...as he feels the sudden warmth of foreign skin touching his.
The hand reaching up to his mouth freezes midair, the other left resting palm down between him and Hakkai. Hakkai...
Hakkai is no longer reading his book, though his outside hand still grasps the page he is about to turn. His eyes look out--forward, unfocused. His free hand, the one that had also been resting palm down between himself and Gojyo, is now turned up as he ever so gently begins to slip it beneath Gojyo's.
First the pinky and ring finger find themselves lifted to make room, and the others follow, until Hakkai's hand is completely beneath and he laces his fingers through, forming a loose hold.
Gojyo does not respond in kind, and takes a good moment to remember what it means to breathe or move. He eventually finishes the trek to his mouth and plucks the cigarette free before crushing it into the floor and leaving it there. When he at last turns his head to look at Hakkai, the brunette has gone back to reading, and shows absolutely no readable expression on his face. As if nothing has happened. As if he ISN'T holding Gojyo's hand.
"Hakkai --"
"Are you feeling any warmer?" Hakkai interrupts, apparently undaunted by Gojyo's refusal to clasp his hand in return. "Cold can do funny things to a person's mind, you know? Like heat. I wouldn't want you to freeze or go mad."
Speaking of going mad. "Hakkai --"
"I suppose it is getting late, isn't it? I'll only finish this one last chapter then."
"Hakkai --"
"I do hope we'll have an easier time traveling tomorrow. Poor Hakuryuu couldn't stand the cold. He's curled up in my other shirt, I believe --"
"Hakkai!"
Hakkai stops rambling and looks up from his book, placing a gaze on Gojyo that radiates gentle affection, with a smile far more genuine than most ever allow themselves to be. "Yes, Gojyo?"
Gojyo's mind draws an immediate blank. What had he meant to say? 'Please let go of my hand.'? 'Why ARE you holding my hand?'? 'Are you fucking out of your mind!?!'?
Hmm. Not the best approach. And, honestly, not at all how Gojyo is feeling.
Meeting that emerald gaze, Gojyo can't help smiling back, and slowly...he matches Hakkai's grip, fitting their hands together. "You could have just asked." He grins, rather enjoying the feel of Hakkai's hand in his now that he has gotten over his initial shock.
Hakkai laughs lightly and closes the book, setting it down beside him. "Where would the fun be in that?" he teases, stroking his thumb along the smooth skin of Gojyo's hand. "Scientifically speaking, sharing body heat is the best way to stay the affects of cold. My intentions are completely honorable."
"Really, now? I'm gonna have to remember that line." Gojyo jests back. "Though I doubt any self-respecting woman would fall for it."
Again, a laugh. "You must be a bad influence on me."
"ON you, huh? Let's talk about that..."
"I think it's time for bed, Gojyo."
"My thoughts exactly."
"SLEEP, Gojyo."
Gojyo's grin discovers a spark of its true, sinister nature. "We'll get there..." And he leans towards Hakkai, intent on capturing a little more skin contact in order to banish any lingering traces of cold.
Click.
Gojyo pauses, and both he and Hakkai turn their faces out to meet a very common though unwelcome site: the business end of Sanzo's gun.
"If you two start going at it, I swear I will shoot you both." He hisses, eyes aflame and arm rock-steady. "NOT while we're sharing the same room. Understand?"
Hakkai smiles sheepishly and nods, and Gojyo offers an indignant solute while mumbling something like 'Yes, master,' rather sarcastically.
Needless to say, as Sanzo lies down near the fire AWAY from the others, Gojyo and Hakkai lay down right where they are, close enough to the fire and each other to not require a blanket.
After a moment's hesitation, Hakkai pulls Gojyo in against him so that the redhead's head is tucked under his chin. "For body heat." He clarifies, not expecting Gojyo to believe him and knowing now that it no longer matters.
"Body heat. Right." Gojyo grins, laying an arm across Hakkai's waist. "So...about having our own room..."
owari
A/N: Awww. Doesn't it just make you think fluffy thought? Short and sweet. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten "Don't Speak," but I needed a slight break. The next chapter will be up soon, I swear. Hope you all enjoyed and PLEASE REVIEW. Love you!
~Crimson