« Apocalypse SNow. »
Summary : Sanzo-ikkou and mistletoe is even worse. Set before the journey. Mild yaoi. Kinda sequel for « Gambler ».Gojyo's POV.
oOoOoOo
Nobody really knows about the full advantages of being inveterate smokers. Imagine two people with nothing to tell to each other (otherwise the risks of fight exponentially increases, anyway). Both of them are sitting at the same table, and soon silence would swiftly grow heavier and heavier. But no. Both of them have ciggies. And they're patiently waiting for the two missing parts of their quatuor to come back.
And they are coming back, now. Hands full.
« What's that? » the monk asks straight away, and nothing like affable, believe me.
« Christmas' decorations, » Hakkai answers, unruffled. But it's true it's obvious. Even the blissful smile of the chibi saru is enough of a clue.
« Christmas? » Sanzo lets slip dubiously. « You're aware I'm a buddhist, aren't you? » he resumes, his fingertips brushing unconscioulsy against the sutra on his shoulders.
« You know, Sanzo, the more I know you, the less I believe you're really a monk, so… »
I'm currently doing my best to stiffle my burst of laughter with my hand. There's no denying: Hakkai has got nerve.
« Christmas. You gotta be kidding…You got raised by nuns, or what? » the bouzu was still muttering while fighting to light a new cigarette.
« Yes indeed. The orphanage where I grew up was run by christian sisters, » the youkai quietly admitted. « I wasn't really fond of these kinds of celebrations, at that time, but I think Goku could enjoy this, right? »
What can you say to that?
oOoOoOo
Goku just told me some really, really interesting thing (which he learned from Hakkai, of couse) about the little bit of greenery I have in my hand. I firmly intend to verify about this, as I enter the kitchen…
« Dinner isn't ready yet, Goku… » The words welcome me before I can say a word. Hakkai hasn't even turned round to look at me.
« Don't call me names, okay? »
He doesn't take the trouble of answering. A brief smile lighten his features. I capture the sight of it in a window darkened by the nightfall. Obviously, he decides that finishing his cooking is more important than asking me why I'm suddenly perched on a chair. He grabs a knife, and with impressive skill begins with the chopping of various vegetables.
They often pop up without warning, these strange ideas which remind me of who is the man I'm sharing a house with. Cho Gonou wasn't a youkai before. Even if Cho Hakkai is, now. He hadn't claws, then. For his death's deeds, it was a blade he used. No doubt, it was with the same talent with which he slices these poor innocent greens. Maybe I should be disturbed by such thoughts. However…
I don't give a fuck.
He is rather light. The moment he tries to grab the saltcellar, beside me, I take hold of his waist to sit him on the table just in front of me. My hands lingers on his hips. My face inches close of his own, I'm leaning towards him. He tries to evade me, slightly leaning back, steadying himself with his palms flat on the hard wood of the tabletop. He remains in a state of high uncertainty. His troubled look crosses mine. His everlasting smile falters.
I'll never hold anybody with these boodstained hands. Those words had escaped his lips once, on a rainy night as I had tried to come too close to him.
« It's tradition, isn't it? Traditions really matter, sensei… » I tell him with my most charming voice.
Here we are. He has understood. He lifts his head to the ceiling. The tiny mistletoe's shoot is still where I just hanged it. He has a short peal of laughter before I make my duty of sealing his lips. For a few minutes, his dark past doesn't matter any more. Even if It doesn't mean much (well, for him), this simple kiss. A kind of parenthesis. He must be thinking of it as a joke of mine.
A moving white spot in a corner of my eyesight. It's Hakuryu who just flought past the doorframe. He stops dead. In the thin air. One second more without moving a wing, and I'm pretty sure he would have simply fallen.
If I wasn't that busy, right now, I would ask myself questions about that murderous flash shining in the ruby reptilian gaze. But he is already fleeing from the room in a hurry.
Really too busy to wonder why this fucking white dragon doesn't fly straight. Hakkai doesn't see. And I'm not going to stop to tell him his dragon is going nuts.
« Smoke… » he whispers a moment later, though, by slightly turning his head away.
« Hakkai? You've never told me you disliked tobacco's smell that much… »
« Not that I mean… It smells of smoke…It's coming from the other room… »
As for me, I'm pretty sure I've heard gunshots, too…
oOoOoOo
A joyous Goku who has sought refuge at the top of a cupboard. That supports me in the belief he is really nothing but a baka saru, but I had already figured it out since long…He is smiling from ear to ear, though.
An irrate Sanzo. Fuming gun in the hand, he is still aiming at the gaki but looks like he ran out of ammunition. He is currently cursing everybody and Hakkai especially. The guy has told something he souldn't have to the monkey, he yells. I suspect Goku had the same idea as I to celebrate Christmas. And the bouzu didn't appreciate much (or so he says).
And a dragon…Who looks like he felt the sudden urge to reduce the house to ashes… Hakuryu seemingly made up his mind into setting on fire every little mistletoe branch present in the home. I don't want to know about his reasons. The blazes are already licking the wallpaper…
One can legitimately wonder how the sole three of them succeeded in turning my living-room into a living hell, right?
Surprising Hakkai to the point of putting him to silence is certainly not little achievement. And it's the second time for tonight. Fortunately, his voice comes back to him soon enough. He is still loooking at the scene above my shoulder.
« Kami-sama. Sanzo, why did you made bullet holes again in our door? It that a new hobby of yours? »
Our door. Hakkai makes progress…
But there's still things to do. We can't let our house go up in smoke, right?
By the way, no apocalypse will ever ruffle me as long as he will be… around.
oOoOoOo
Half-asleep on Hakkai's laps, now, Hakuryu still hiccups from time to time. In fact, I've got the feeling I shouldn't have shared my sake with him a moment ago.
Owari