The cabin was…furnished, if one could call it that. There was a bowed-in bed sticking out of the corner, which was missing at least one leg from the frame. The table was hardly recognizable it was so worn and the cupboard was tipped on its cracked side. Left dark were the spider-infested recesses at the room's extremities, lurking at the edges of the feeble light.
"At least we don't have to sleep outside tonight. Don't complain," Sanzo deadpanned with a disillusioned glance around the room.
"I won't if you won't." Gojyo ambled over to the broken bed, dropping his pack in the middle of the sagging mattress. He didn't trust the old thing to hold his weight, so he kneeled on the floor as he unpacked. "Okay…two dinner rolls, filched from the last town…a melty package of candy…one can of beer, nice and warm…half a pack of cigarettes, your brand…." He made a face as he unearthed something unrecognizable. "And…a…rotten meat bun…."
The priest looked as though he'd rather die eat any of the food offered, but took a dinner roll regardless. He wandered around the cabin, nibbling on the bread and examining the derelict décor. "I wonder why this place is deserted…. It doesn't seem like the occupants left that long ago. There's still food in the pantry."
His companion picked up the remaining roll and finished it in two bites. The kappa also took the liberty of opening the lone beer, tossing back a few gulps. "I dunno. Who cares? Although, if they left some liquor—"
"If you drink more than half that beer, I'll kill you." Sanzo decided not to pursue a discussion about why the former owners of the cabin had left. He'd rather not think of the awful possibilities. The redhead paused in mid-swallow when the priest threatened him and set the can down on the floor.
"Little late for that…but there's probably a bit left at the bottom of the can."
Sanzo growled and snatched the can off the floor. He slurped up the remains of the drink in one gulp and threw the can at Gojyo, who flung up an arm to shield his face. "You deserve at least a thorough beating for that…." Sanzo sat with his back against the bed and pulled out one cigarette from the crumpled package. "Gimme a light and I'll lessen your punishment."
"Yes, oh high and mighty Sanzo-sama." The kappa tossed his lighter in the direction of the perpetually annoyed priest, who caught it easily. Sanzo flicked it on, only to have it sputter out pathetically immediately after the cigarette began to burn.
"You're out of fuel," he said, chucking it back at Gojyo. "I'm fucking exhausted. Wanna play cards for the bed?"
Gojyo caught it and thumbed the switched a few times. Scratching he head with a shrug, he muttered to himself, "Hm…you're right…." Pocketing the lighter, he flashed Sanzo a mischievous grin. "Yeah, sure—but you're going to lose. So why not let me have it from the get-go?"
"No. Cards," the priest replied flatly. "Or Mah Jong. Whatever we have with us." Rummaging through the pack, he turned up a pack of tattered cards and proceeded to shuffle them. Gojyo watched him bemusedly, relieved when Sanzo found the cards instead of the Mah Jong set, mainly because no matter how hard he cheated, the priest always won. "I'm dealing."
"What?! No you aren't!" the kappa exclaimed, making a clumsy grab for the cards. "You'll cheat!"
"So will you." Sanzo held the cards at an arm's length away, just out of his reach.
"How the hell are we gonna keep this fair?" Gojyo asked skeptically, eyeing the deck clutched in the priest's delicate hand. The idea of fairness had not seemed to have ever crossed the blonde's mind, as a rather perplexed look settled on his face.
"Er…what if we just see who can cheat better?"
"Good idea. But I'm not givin' you the first scam. Gimme the cards." Stretching as far as his position would let him, Gojyo reached for the cards in a futile attempt to push the odds in his favor. "I shuffle, you deal."
"Fine." Sanzo handed the redhead the ratty cards and sat back with his arms crossed. The cigarette stuck between his lips was beginning to burn low, so he lit a new one with the stump of the old. "Hurry up. I don't want this to take all night."
"Yeah, yeah…." The kappa reverted easily back into his old card playing façade—a state he had perfected of the years of living off gambling. He shifted them from hand to hand with as much flourish as a professional. Rolling his eyes, Sanzo flicked cigarette ashes in the kappa's general direction.
"Quit showing off and shuffle, kappa."
"Keep your robes on, Priest." He flipped the cards a few more times and then bridged them, grinning lecherously. "Although…I'd rather you didn't…." Changing the location of several cards, he handed them so Sanzo.
The priest snatched the deck away and began to deal, pretending to not have heard the suggestion about his state of dress. "Best of ten?" he asked, taking a drag of the cigarette jammed between his lips.
"Yeah," Gojyo agreed, fingering the hand he'd been dealt. "How're we keepin' track?"
Sanzo shuffled around in the pack for some sort of writing utensil and, coming up with nothing, pulled out a knife instead and tossed it on the floor near the deck. "Scratch it into the floor with that."
"Sounds good. Let's get this going." He picked up the knife, turning is slowly in the meager light, watching the glint flash in his eye. Setting it down, the kappa fanned out the five cards in his hand and examined them carefully. Sanzo frowned at his, and traded three of them for fresh ones, while muttering some obscenity or another. The redhead followed suit, raising an eyebrow at his new cards.
"Goddammit."
"One pair," Gojyo said, smugly setting down his cards.
"Nothing," Sanzo said shortly and threw his hand in the discard pile. "First hand and I'm already loosing. What the hell is this?" The kappa just smiled knowingly and cut a notch in the wooden floor near his leg. Dealing the next hand, Sanzo viciously ground the remains of the cigarette into the floor. This is going to be a damn long night….