Star Light, Star Bright
"Master Sanzo! Welcome back!"
"Did you have a good trip, Master Sanzo?"
"Master Sanzo, allow me to get your bag for you!"
Goku clung to Sanzo's robe, hiding behind his guardian. All these people... they had no hair! They were SCARY! Even the ones who looked about his size didn't have hair. That couldn't be good. And they were all staring at him, too. What if they wanted to take his hair and use it for their own? He tried to get closer to Sanzo, stumbling over his own feet and causing the man to miss a step.
Violet eyes flashed angrily at him, teeth clenched tight and a growl came from that throat. "Will you back the fuck off?"
"But, Sanzo... they're scary," Goku whispered.
"Everything's scary to you. Step back two paces now, Goku. And let go of me!"
Shivering, golden eyes darting around as more and more people stopped at stared at him, some pointing and whispering, Goku did as he was asked, one hand holding the opposite wrist tightly. The whispers got louder and louder until he could finally make out some of the words.
"Who is that boy?"
"Look at his eyes... like melted gold!"
"Do you suppose he's Master Sanzo's pet?"
He didn't like the whispers. He didn't like them at all! Scary, hairless people, acting like HE was the weird one. He closed his eyes tightly, putting his hands over his ears. Maybe if he couldn't see or hear them, they'd go away.
NOW what the hell are you doing?
That voice again... there was no sound to it but the impression of the tone was definately Sanzo. It made him feel a little better, knowing he was never really alone. He opened his eyes, meeting a mask of violet. Something flickered there, but it wasn't angry. He wished he knew what it was!
Goku flinched as Sanzo reached out, wrapping his long fingers around Goku's wrists and prying his hands from his ears. He whimpered, shutting his eyes again. He didn't want Sanzo to be angry with him!
"Goku, look at me."
Swallowing heavily, he obeyed again, meeting that hard gaze.
"Shit... this really does scare you, doesn't it?"
He nodded slowly, not trusting himself to speak.
Shaking his head, Sanzo glared out at the crowd around them. "All of you, piss off! I'm tired and not in the mood to deal with this bullshit. And, since I'm technically not due back until tomorrow, don't disturb me until then."
Startled whispers came again from the hairless guys. One of them stepped toward Sanzo, mouth open. "But, Master Sanzo, since you have returned to us early, won't you please-,"
"Save it. I'm off the clock. Let's go, Goku."
Goku followed Sanzo closely, wide eyes still looking from side to side at the confused faces. They went up a lot of stone steps and in between tall stone poles and through wooden doors. Everywhere Goku looked, there were pretty pictures on the walls of the very big house. Hairless people were everywhere, some of them making funny sounds in rooms together, others talking and still others moving around without a sound, not even looking at them. It was better than all the stares and whispers.
Footsteps, very soft footsteps, followed behind them. Goku turned to find a boy who was a little bigger than he was walking behind them with a funny smile on his face and Glasses. And... he had HAIR! But he didn't like the way the boy was looking at Sanzo. It was... scary. But it wasn't the same scary as the hairless guys. Instead of being scared for himself, he was scared for Sanzo. "Sanzo, someone's followin' us," he whispered.
Sanzo turned just enough to glance over his shoulder. "That's just Dougan."
Oh. He turned around again and waved. The boy blinked and then frowned at Goku. But... people always waved back when he waved at them! Why didn't this boy? Goku sighed sadly, grabbing a handful of Sanzo's robe. That Dougan didn't like him. Nobody here liked him.
"Dougan." Sanzo stopped outside a set of doors, pulling a key from his robe.
"Yes, master?" Dougan asked eagerly, rushing forward. Goku scowled as the boy elbowed him sharply to the side. Ow... that was really mean! He was about to elbow back when Sanzo spoke again.
"Bring dinner for Goku and myself up to my room. And also see if there's a spare cot or mattress somewhere."
"Is your bed... not to you liking?" Dougan asked. He sounded like he was afraid of Sanzo. But why would he be afraid of Sanzo... except for the hitting?
"It's for Goku," Sanzo answered, unlocking the door and pushing it open. "He's staying with me."
Goku beamed at the words, following Sanzo inside without a glance back at the mean boy. Sanzo shut the door with a sigh, locking it again. "Did ya really mean that, Sanzo?" Goku asked softly, trying keep the smile from coming back and losing.
Sanzo pulled out his cigarettes and lit up. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it. Stupid monkey."
The grin quickly turned upside down and Goku stamped his foot angrily on the floor. "I'm not monkey!"
"You're right. You're just stupid."
Since he still didn't quite know what a 'stupid' was, he didn't argue it. There was a knock on the door and Dougan came in with a big tray full of food. "I'm sorry, master, but since I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow night, I couldn't have the kitchen prepare your favorites."
Goku frowned, scratching his neck. Sanzo had favorite foods? He never really thought about that. "Hey, Sanzo?"
Sanzo let out a stream of smoke, arching a brow as he took a seat at the heavy table. Everything about this room didn't seem... like Sanzo. Lots of pretty colors and a really big bed and big heavy furniture and pictures. HE liked it... but he didn't think Sanzo would.
"What's your favorite food?"
Dougan glared at him. "Fried noodles with ginger, of course," the boy said, lifting his head high in the air. He looked so silly, Goku couldn't help but snicker. The glare became even more glare-y and his cheeks turned pink. "What's so funny?"
"That face... it was great! Can you do it again?" Goku asked, clutching his sides. He could have sworn he saw Sanzo's lips twitch a little.
"Why... what's so funny about my face?"
"It was just so...ahahahaha...silly!"
Dougan turned to Sanzo, mouth opening and closing without a word coming out.
Sanzo picked up those two stick things (he'd told Goku once what they were...but he forgot) and said, "I take it they didn't have a spare mattress."
"No, sorry, master. I'm sure there's room in the servant barracks."
Pouring a dark brown liquid into his glass, Sanzo said, "Don't bother. Tomorrow, take a few of the other boys to town and buy one."
Dougan bowed and said, "Yes, master. Is there anything else you'd like tonight?"
"No. Get out."
Bowing again, Dougan turned to leave, slamming his shoulder purposely into Goku. "Hey..." He turned around, prepared to say something, but Dougan had already left, shutting the door. Rubbing his shoulder a little, he went over to the table, pulling out one of the heavy chairs and sitting in it with his legs crossed onto the seat. He didn't wait for Sanzo to give him permission and dove right in, grabbing a handful of the rice and eating it. "OW!" He rubbed the back of his head where Sanzo had smacked him, glaring back at those violet eyes.
"Use the goddamn chopsticks, moron," the man snarled.
Still scowling, Goku picked one stick up in one hand and another up in the other. Sanzo stopped, hands folded together and elbows on the table, watching as Goku tried to pick up the food like that. It took him three tries before he finally got some near his mouth only to lose the spicy vegetable as it fell from the sticks, down his shirt and onto the nice cloth underneath the table. "Grrr..."
"Stop. This rug's about the only thing I like in this room and I don't want it smelling like teriyaki. Look." Sanzo lowered the hand holding the chopsticks so Goku could see. "Put one like this so it doesn't move and hold the other like this."
Goku stuck his tongue out, concentrating hard. He copied Sanzo's example, fingers cramping from holding the things. "This is really weird. My hands work better than this!"
"Your hands are also disgusting as hell. Practice a few times with larger pieces before you go trying to tackle rice."
Opening and closing the sticks a couple times to see if it worked, Goku snagged a chunk of carrot carefully. It wobbled a little but didn't fall. "Hey, I've got it! Look, Sanzo!"
"Fucking fantastic," Sanzo replied. He didn't sound at all happy about Goku's accomplishment. Which was fine with Goku, because he was proud of himself.
They finished dinner and after that Sanzo made Goku take a bath. Goku didn't mind, though, because it meant he could just get dirtier tomorrow to make up for it. He got out, shaking his head upside down to get the water out of his long hair and put on the cloths Sanzo had bought for him to wear for bed. He took his magic rock out of his pants pocket and put it in his sleeping shirt pocket to take with him.
When he finally got out of the bathroom, all but one candle was out by the big bed. Goku hesitated, noticing Sanzo wasn't in bed yet. "Sanzo?" he called.
"I'm out here."
Goku followed his voice into the shadows cast from a thin moon, eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness. He could see a glass door open, cloth hanging over it blowing back in the cool breeze. The wind brought the smells of the river and the tall pine trees as well as the smoke from fires and the scent of oranges and peaches from the trees. He could see Sanzo out there, leaning over the piece of stone that overlooked the empty place below. He went over, putting his arms up on the bar and resting his head on it, gazing at Sanzo. He looked so different at night. His hair wasn't sunshine bright and his skin was paler, as were his eyes. He looked more like the moon now. Goku wondered if he himself looked different at night, too.
Sanzo looked at him from the corner of his eye, not turning his head. "What?"
"Nothin'. Just tryin' to decide if I like you at night."
That got him to look down, eyebrows forming a tight line over his eyes. "Come again?"
"Well, now you don't look like the sun. You look like the moon. I'm just tryin' to decide if I like it."
Sanzo shook his head. "You're so damn creepy at times. Why are you obsessed with the sun and moon?"
Goku frowned, turning his gaze up to the thing in question. It was at it's tiniest right now. Tomorrow, it would be start to come back, growing bigger and bigger until it got tiny again. The sun never did that. It only changed colors. "I dunno. I guess cuz they were my only friends forever an' ever. I saw them every day. Them an' the clouds an' the stars. I like that star right there a lot." He pointed to the one closest to the moon, the one that would disappear when the moon was really fat.
"According to a story I heard once, that star's supposed to be some Emperor's daughter," Sanzo said, following Goku's finger.
"Really? That's cool! Was she pretty?" Goku leaned forward more, wishing he could fly up and see if it really WAS a girl.
"How the hell should I know? It was just a story," he muttered, lighting a cigarette.
Goku scanned the dark blue sky, taking in the thousands and thousands of stars. "Do all the stars have stories?" he asked, not really expecting Sanzo to answer.
Letting out grey smoke, Sanzo moved pointed up at the sky, moving it to connect certain stars. "That one's a bull. And over there are the seven goddesses."
Goku bounced up and down on his feet, grinning. "I see 'em! Are there more? Show me!"
Sanzo spent the next few hours pointing out the different shapes in the stars, Goku interupting every once in a while to ask questions. It wasn't until the sky started turning grey that Sanzo stopped, sighing a little.
"What's wrong, Sanzo?" Goku asked, worried about his friend. There were dark spots under Sanzo's eyes and he looked suddenly very weak.
"I'm fucking exhausted," Sanzo muttered. "You kept me up all night with this star bullshit."
"Oh...sorry." He felt really awful now. He hadn't meant to make Sanzo weak! He'd just been so excited about the stars having names and stories and pictures that he'd forgotten they'd been up since the night before.
Sanzo's hand touched his head briefly. "Stop moping, it's really annoying. Come on, let's try and get a little sleep before these bald bastards wake up."
Goku followed him back into the room, crawling up on the bed as Sanzo took his robe off, rolling that funny paper up neatly as usual, putting it into a box by the bed instead of under his pillow. He watched as those slender fingers lingered on the box's lid briefly before moving to the belt, pulling it off before removing the leather shirt and sleeves. Goku didn't argue with him about getting out of his pants into sleeping cloths, but scooted away as far as he could, grabbing one of the pillows. " 'Night, Sanzo," he whispered.
"Will you shut up already? I'm fucking beat."
