-1Disclaimer: Not mine. Nadachu.

WARNINGS: Smut. Watch out for the smut. OOC, kindacreepy!Goku, and, again, smut. I don't think I cross the boundary here, but the boundaries are vague, so please, beware.

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Second Best

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"There is only one real sin and that is to persuade oneself that the second best is anything but second best."

It didn't happen very often.

It was only occasionally that Goku had to do it...but was it really his fault? He stared day in and out at a man who unknowingly embodied sex, and his long forgotten instincts howled in need. The way Sanzo caressed his gun. The nonchalant way Sanzo shrugged out of his robes. The cold glares that made those violet eyes feel like they were seeing into your very soul. But still, Goku did not have to do it very often. It was only on those days when his own thoughts and daydreams betrayed him.

Most days he was content to just curl up in whatever inn they stayed at - assuming, of course he was not rooming with the object of his desires - and sleep himself into oblivion with his fantasies that lately had featured a certain blond more than meatbuns. But there were some days where his skin felt too tight, his heart rate too high, his senses soared and his body ached. It was those times when he came precariously close to doing something immensely stupid - like pounce on his guardian.

The last four and a half years in Gojyo's company had not left him untouched. He was not the naive and oblivious child the others thought him to be, though he made no move to correct them. He had watched the kappa attempt conquest after conquest, and he had duly noted that which succeeded and that which did not.

He always sought out the ones that reminded him - even the tiniest bit - of Sanzo. He hoped for a blond, but those were exceedingly rare. He looked for the slim builds and fine features that would help when he closed his eyes, pretending it was actually Sanzo he was with.

Sanzo dancing his fingers across his skin. Sanzo driving his tongue into his mouth. Sanzo tasting his skin and making him moan.

Out of the dozen times it had happened, only two or three had questioned the name he called out in the heat of passion. Most ignored it as some weird quirk...after all, a name was harmless in comparison to what some people did in bed. Others were so lost in their own fantasies that they didn't even notice the name their young partner called out.

Goku was used to second best, now. He had learned quickly that he would never be able to worship his sun the way he wished to, so he worshiped him inside his mind. Heart, body, and soul he gave himself over, no matter who the faceless villager was he was always giving himself to Sanzo.

It was like how when he was paired with Sanzo to share a room, he never slept. He listened to every beat of the monk's heart, every breath. Occasionally, when he was feeling brave, he would creep closer to the blond's bed and just breathe. There was such a difference in Sanzo's scent when he could smell it without a lit cigarette or other people nearby. Those nights, he wished that Sanzo was a heavy sleeper like himself so he could taste him. Just the smallest of tastes, to complete the missing sense in his fantasies.

He would always worship Sanzo from afar.

It really wasn't so bad.

He always kept his eyes closed when he worshiped his sun, and his spectacular imagination transported him from whatever seedy alley or back room he had stolen away to, to the depths of his fantasies. The scenery didn't matter there, only the people within the space. He was always with Sanzo there.

Sanzo filling him to the point of pain. Sanzo's harsh breath, panting, mingling with his own. Sanzo pounding into him again and again...

He could deal with taking the second best thing.

Because sometimes, second best was as good as it got.

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It was nice, having good sake. The recent weeks had only brought cheap beer to the Sanzo-ikkou, so Sanzo was pleased to be sipping the warm rice wine, even if the surroundings were less than nice. The bar they had stopped in was dreary at best, with seedy characters abound, but they had several rooms indoors, as that was all the party of four really needed.

But Sanzo's good mood was not to last. The kappa was being his obnoxious self, slightly drunk and hitting on everything with a pulse. Hakkai, perpetually sober and collected, was doing his best to rescue the redhead's many conquests while trying to distract Gojyo. But both of these things were so of the ordinary that Sanzo didn't even bat an eye. It was Goku who was currently draining Sanzo's good mood.

The monkey was in a quiet, shaded corner of the bar sitting far too close with his conversation partner. The man was young, maybe a year or two older than Goku himself, with dark blond hair and almost feminine features. Sanzo vaguely noted the slight resemblance between the man and himself, but that was far from the forefront of his mind.

What was on his mind was that Goku was currently leaving the bar with said man.

Oh, the saru had been surreptitious enough with his exit, but the youngest of the traveling group hadn't counted on Sanzo having been watching him the entire time. So the monk followed, as any good keeper would do, but with a strange burning trepidation. He tracked them easily; even in his quieter moments, his charge was loud enough to alert the deaf to his presence.

But nothing prepared Sanzo for the scene when he turned into the alley his charge had gone down.

The dim lamplight reflected off the ash blond of the nameless man's shoulder-length hair, which was currently tightly ensnared between tanned, calloused fingers. Goku had his back to the wall and was in a heated kiss with the blond man, whom Sanzo was sure was currently trying to devour the teen's face. Pale hands disappeared under Goku's shirt, forcing the heretic to break the kiss to moan throatily.

Sanzo, still frozen to the spot, felt the sound shoot through him and straight between his legs. He was completely dumbfounded. As far as he had been aware, the monkey was the most innocent of them all... but it was hard to refute the youth's current position. Lithe legs were moving to wantonly wrap around his partner's waist, dexterous fingers were unbuttoning the dirty-blond's shirt without thought. He was not flustered or unsure; his movements spoke of familiarity with his actions.

Clad only in his jeans and leathers, Sanzo's currently traitorous hand snuck its way to grip his now straining erection through the denim. Sanzo had never made it a habit to lie to himself, and he had come to terms with this fact many months prior - he wanted the monkey. He had wanted the monkey since before the journey had even begun...but that was neither here nor there. The perceived innocence and naiveté of his charge had always stopped his potential actions.

But now here in front of him was Goku, clearly not as innocent as they had all believed, locked in a very compromising position with a blond that was not Sanzo. Jealousy now warred with desire as he tried to decide if he should just leave unnoticed or if he should rip this poor comparison off his monkey and satisfy the gnawing combination of possessiveness and raw lust that raged within him.

Goku's voice ripped him from his reverie and decided for him.

"S-Sanzo..." the teen moaned as one of the other man's hands began fiddling with the button of his jeans. The blond was apparently not phased by his partner calling out the name, or title more appropriately, of one of Shangri-La's most prestigious inhabitants. In fact, he seemed not to notice at all.

Sanzo, on the other hand, had definitely noticed. His own eyes had rolled back and his cock had twitched in appreciation of his name coming from the saru's throat in that tone. He had always wondered, with the many ways he had gotten the younger man to say his name, how it would sound so needy for something far better than food. His control snapped and he growled audibly, immediately snapping Goku's attention from his current activity to the shadow-shrouded monk.

But Sanzo didn't look at him. He, instead, focused on the ashy blond hair of the man who dared to touch his monkey, grabbing the strands from Goku's now lax hold and bodily throwing the stranger aside.

When wide brown eyes spotted the distinguishing golden hair and red chakra, the young man high-tailed it out of the alley rather quickly. Sanzo almost relished in it; it was nice to know he could instill fear even without his gun. So much time with Goku and Gojyo had dulled his superiority.

But shuffling from behind him broke through his musing, and he whirled around to pin Goku with his eyes, the heretic immediately freezing flush against the alley wall. The teen looked panicked, his body rigid and eyes wide; he strongly resembled a rabbit about too flee. But the attention of his guardian seemed to freeze him solidly, a strange combination of fear, anxiety, and desire battling in his wide golden gaze.

With slow, purposeful strides, Sanzo advanced on the younger man, maintaining the nearly painful eye contact. He stopped mere inches from his prey, placing a hand to either side of Goku's head and speaking in a harsh whisper, "What in the hell do you think you were doing, bakazaru?"

A chill ran through the teen, "S-San...I...ah..."

Not satisfied with the nervous stutters, Sanzo locked violet with gold, "What is it you want?"

No words this time, just a wracking shudder and infinitesimal arch of his back. Sanzo could see the battle within his charge's eyes, the fight between coherent, real thought and becoming lost in either the fear or lust that were clashing within him.

Sanzo, with an internal smirk, took the fight away.

Pressing his body into Goku, he made sure to roll his hips against the younger man as he leaned close enough for his breath to ghost over the brunet's ear, "What. Do. You. Want?"

The war lost, Goku gasped and arched into Sanzo, his voice low and breathy, "Y-You, damnit!" he choked out, barely thinking.

And Sanzo, feeling generous, gave him that.

This wasn't romance and looks of love - this was pure passion. Sanzo ground himself against his charge hard enough to be painful, his teeth insisting for entrance into the younger man's mouth. Goku's moan was swallowed up greedily by the monk, who was already deftly unclasping Goku's jeans one handed.

The kiss was hungry, ferocious even. Goku did not back down entirely but still submitted to the dominating kiss of his guardian, melting completely against the blond. Tongues entwined and hands roaming, both men were already lost in the sensation of the moment. It seemed hours to Goku in a state of sensory overload, feeling lost within the feel of Sanzo's lips pressed to his…Sanzo tasted divine, just as the brunet had always known he would. In reality, it was only mere minutes before Sanzo had wrested the small packet of lube from Goku's jeans and pulled said jeans down around Goku's knees.

Sanzo raised one of the saru's legs over his shoulder, pinning the younger man to the wall with the his upper body and running his teeth over his charge's neck. Goku gasped gratifyingly and Sanzo briefly kissed him again. The kiss was broken as Sanzo, without preparation or preamble and only a quick application of lube to himself, impaled Goku onto him, making the younger man cry out and claw at the wall behind him.

Sanzo did not give the monkey time to recover as he gripped hard onto slim hips and slammed himself back into the younger man. Goku's eyes screwed shut tightly enough for tears to leak from the corners but he made no move to ask the blond to stop or slow down. Sanzo liked that, and still being in his aforementioned generous mood rewarded it by snaking one hand between them to stroke the teen in time with his thrusts.

Goku's hands left scrabbling across the wall for purchase to grip Sanzo's hair hard between his fingers, tugging the slightly bruised mouth to his again. It was less a kiss than the two breathing into one another, their pants and low moans escaping into one another's mouths. Sanzo never relented in the feverish thrusting into the smaller body crushed against him. Goku's pained winces had turned to moans now as Sanzo both rammed into him and tugged relentlessly on the erection pinned between their tense bodies.

Their peaks were nearing, and both men felt positively ablaze. Goku had taken to having his face upturned and his body arched completely into his guardian, who's forehead had come to rest on his collarbone as the older man unsuccessfully tried to hold back his cries. The impending climax was leaving both of them incapable of anything beyond the rhythm they had set and the involuntary moans escaping their throats.

As they were both engulfed, Sanzo growled and bit hard into the younger man's partially exposed collarbone, using it to muffle his scream. Goku did not have the luxury and his own release was howled into the silent town, no doubt disturbing several of the residents.

Neither moved for several minutes.

When Sanzo did move, it was to carefully extract himself from the still shuddering teen and drop said youth to the ground as he did up his pants and tried to straighten himself to some semblance of order.

Goku groaned from the ground. He was sure he wouldn't be walking properly for a week, his back was scraped raw from the wall, and he felt vaguely like he was going to throw up.

But he had never been happier.

As he agonizingly pulled himself to his feet and yanked up his jeans, he relished in watching his sun run his fingers through his hair. He had just had Sanzo. The one thing he had been sure he would never have. He felt like thanking the gods, but somehow he was sure they had nothing to do with his wonderful luck.

Sanzo was finished now and turned to Goku, usual mask in place, "Now, monkey, don't go thinking this is some fucking love confession or some bullshit like that...this was a one time thing, got it?"

Goku nodded hurriedly.

"Good. Now, I ever catch you near another guy like that again, I'll fucking shoot you. Got that?"

Again, Goku acquiesced immediately.

Suspicious violet eyes stayed on him for along minute before turning and motioning for Goku to follow out of the alley and back to the dingy bar. That Sanzo said it would never happen again didn't bother Goku...he knew it would. It was stay in Sanzo's mind, eating at him until he had it again...and again...and again. And Goku would give it to him as many times as he needed it.

And he also didn't need to be told to stay away from other partners. Like he could ever settle for second best again.

The real thing was so much better.

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