DISCLAIMER: I own Saiyuki not. Except for the first four volumes. Score!
WARNING: Language. Angst. Verbosity. Connivance. Pairings in all flavors.
NOTES: (points) Look! Action! Despite the fact that I can't write action to save my life. Oh, Almighty Drabble, how I adore thee… Xposted on EftW and my site, where I will be taking the very helpful beta's advice (adore Rune. I was evil to her) on the formatting in the Kanan paragraph, but not here because ffnet has no formatting.
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Hir Wicked Style
part 17: Sanzo-Ikkou
by Nightfall
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Goku didn't know how Kaikara and Lilin could stand it. Gojyo smelled even more like horny cockroach than usual, but they were both all over him.
Actually a lot of people smelled like erokappa (and what turned out, after getting too close to Honshin and Dokugakuji, to be the female version). About the only people who didn't were Sanzo (the right Sanzo), Kougaiji, and the two girls, but now they smelled like Gojyo, and Sanzo was standing near Hakkai. What use was a good night's sleep if you had to wake up to this?
Goku was staying upwind of -everybody.-
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If anyone had bothered to ask her (ha!), Honshin would have advised them not to touch weeping-willow-man with a ten foot pole and rubber gloves. But you couldn't stop Sanzo from making things worse for herself; she'd just shoot you. Discipline? Stubbornness? Mastering pain through overexposure?
Whatever.
If Sanzo and Kanan wanted to dive headfirst into a river of uncomfortable silences, it wasn't any of Honshin's business. Anyway, Suzuyuki was too small a jeep to hold grudges in for long.
Honshin wasn't interested. A Jien who didn't know what to do with her was more fun than Kanan on morphine.
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Was Gonou (not the never again) right about Yaone-san? Because if he was (and he was is no more puddled between cells in the dark the smell of his blood glowing behind her eyes, glowing from his hands, his hands tender but so sure in the dark) it was he who'd made her so (strong beneath her so obliging washing clean venom vacuumed away oh SHOUTAI, Shoutai so shaken by the right name wrung from her and he slipped away), because the Yaone-san she had (met my brother on the road and killed him) known was a goddamn shrinking damsel.
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A little peace and quiet for fucking once, and if those two were flirting, those two fighting, and these two joined at the hip, at least they were doing it quietly. For small mercies thank -no one at all, you nosy hag.- Still, it was good. He had enough to do keeping Goku from staring in awe at a worse mess than Goku could have made, because the last thing he needed was Hakkai overcome not only by hormones but squeamish, missish guilt. And besides, the eternal stairs were almost too narrow to swing a harisen no matter who deserved it.
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She wasn't sure what Kanan's brother had meant who to understand, but he was almost as mean as Sanzo. At least Kanan explained stuff so you could understand.
Mean or not, she could trust him. She knew she could when he took a metal spoon and ran fire from a lighter and qi over it and poured the chain-lady's knockout medicine she and Goku were supposed to drink into it and held it out to Lilin.
Maybe he was really only looking out for Goku. So what? Sanzo would have smacked Kaikara if she'd failed to benefit. She wasn't complaining.
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Shit, he'd been sure they were going to die. Hakkai'd been confusing as hell and it was pissing him off, but when the prince took offense at having his alchemist's integrity questioned, Gojyo learned one more time that terror is a wonderful simplifier.
It was O-Hime-chan who'd talked fast enough to defuse His Royal Temper Tantrum--the first time anyway. Gojyo could almost forgive her a few things for that.
The second tantrum had been uncalled for. Yaone should have been insulted. No way she would have gone through with it once she'd been called on it--not with Lilin at stake.
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How encouraging, that Yaone-san should, unlike her lord, have grown enough accustomed to the world to take his assumption of her ruthlessness on Kougaiji-san's behalf as complimentary. After all, someday neither he nor Kougaiji-san would be around to rescue her from her own courage.
And it wasn't as though he'd been wrong. It was unfair of Kougaiji-san, being angry with him for underlining Yaone-san's loyalty just because it went beyond pale honor's strictures.
But if there was a greater indulgence than sulking quietly against Gojyo's shoulder while his older sister defended him one last time, it had to be sin.
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The dark stateliness of a pavilion she'd had destroyed mocked her.
This wasn't how she had envisioned matters. The object of sex, as far as she was concerned, was to remind you of the nirvana life wasn't; that the beautiful attachment was a cold illusion inflicted by one's brain in its desperate attempt to keep oxygenated. Bringing the ghost into it had been intended to underline the illusion and illustrate without room for doubt the exact size and position of her place in Kanan's cold, unyielding heart.
And oh, it had.
Sanzo was almost sure she wasn't up to this.
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Lashed to a pentacle, iron rubbing old scars through his wristlets, no sunlight at all. No matter how hard it swelled in him, he wouldn't be the first to whimper. He wished Kaikara would. He'd laugh at her and she'd get mad, and then they could fight like she was really him and he was Gojyo and there wouldn't be time to be scared.
She wouldn't, because he wouldn't. So he should, but he wouldn't be first. Gojyo would never let him hear the end of it.
Too sleepy to fight the fear, and Sanzo's hands in his hair.
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Lashed to a pentacle, iron rubbing old scars through her wristlets, no sunlight at all. If Homura had tried this when she was awake, she'd have eaten the pervert's ears. Limited or not.
There was no goad, like Homura's voice had been to her sleep, fretting her to anger, only Sanzo, Sanzo's hands in her hair, and from next to Goku Sanzo's deep voice, saying All as it should be, saru, nothing out of place, Goku, you know the world the way it is, Kaikara. Be that way.
Only Sanzo, his deep voice, her small hands moving in Kaikara's hair.
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"Hey, I don't know if you yahoos have noticed, but the brats've been jerking like landed fish for a little while now, and hey, how 'bout that, -no gateway!- We put the sutras down right, right? That's where they were? Corners of the inside star, right? Four sutras and a monkey for two and three gods? We got the power, right? The hell isn't it working? Enlighten us, Oh Genius-Cho--san!-"
"Learn some manners, slutroach."
"We're gonna be stuck here, Sanzo! Nothing's happening!"
"Of course not, Sha-san. No one has told it to."
"No one's--haaaaah?"
"Sanzo? If you wouldn't mind?"
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Sanzo's why-me snarl was just about worth the price of admission, and the glower afterwards, when Hakkai patiently explained that the Boddhisatva might decline to respond to somebody else's niece, was even better.
Sanzo wasn't buying. Hakkai was the learned scholarly one and shit, and Sanzo damn well wasn't asking the hag for any favors. Gojyo nearly burst something trying not to laugh at Hakkai's dismay.
But the memory that was really gonna keep him warm was Sanzo, standing gingerly as near the borders of the glowing circle as he could get, with Hakkai whispering across it in his ear.
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All-powerful Boddhisatva, you who have benefited us in the--Screw it, Hakkai, I left this sanctimonious bullshit back in the temple--no. Get off me. I said back off!
Listen up, Hag! You sent four of us! You're the all-fucking-Merciful One, isn't that right? Bullshit you're gonna steal from another universe to make things easier on us. As if you'd ever do anything to make things easy for us. As if we ever asked you to!
So take the damn power and do whatever the hell you want with it. Unless you like watching the monkeys squirm. I'm sick of this shit.
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Another damn lightshow, complete with the crawl of power on her skin and howling Seitan Taisei, scathing them all with whirling dust and whipping hair. She saw Honshin clutch that not-Jien's arm as the alchemist clutched the dead prince, saw her mirror clutch a limiter and grab a monkey's arm just as she did, saw for the last time in her life Kanan kissing someone else, so fiercely the blood ran down their faces, knew she'd find bruises later on Kanan's arms, saw Sha Gojyo turn away.
She saw the glowing doors above them swing open.
The room went black.
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He made light.
Sanzo slammed the limiter back around Goku's ears, and some of his satisfaction was 'didn't have to make a new one.' Goku was snoring instantly. The room held eight.
"Got 'im," Gojyo said, unlocked the cuffs, swung Goku over his shoulder, ducked Hakkai's eyes.
"Don't forget--" Kougaiji began as Sanzo reached for the Maten.
Without hesitation, Hakkai slammed the side of his hand down by Kougaiji's neck. "We're all tired," he said gently to Yaone-san, handing the prince to his man. "Go home."
"See you soon," Dokugakuji warned.
"Most likely," Hakkai sighed, and followed Gojyo out.
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She made light, but let it fizzle out instantly. It was still morning, and the tower was rubble around them. Even as she watched, the great doors, suspended by nothing, fell down with a resounding boom, signing the death warrants of many innocent blades of grass.
Suzuyuki brought them back to the inn, where Sakari was cuddled up in Jien's lap, oversleeping. Kanan lifted her daughter gently, carried her to the next room, and fell asleep before she could hear Honshin greeting her brother. Later, Sanzo climbed in beside her.
And that was the end of that.
Until it wasn't.
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OMAKE!The SEME At The End Of This Fic
starring lovable, placid old HAKKAI
And adorably vague but considerably older TENPOU
Kenren: (swirly-eyes) Oooh… uh, Tenpou, you okay with this?
Tenpou: Taishou, I have a front-row seat. n,n But if you would be so good, as soon as you're finished, if you would kindly click on that link down there...
Kenren: Oh, sure. I can do it now if you want; get it out of the way.
Hakkai: NO! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!
Tenpou: Damn!
(end part 17)
REVIEW RESPONSES (to the last chapter, to random reviews, to Come the Morning. In that order.)
Uh—almost everybody who responded did it on LJ (waves), so this section's gonna be to anyone who responded to anything at all recently. Since my Slayers stuff's been getting more random hits lately (thanks, guys! Now one of you stop to tell me where you folks are hiding the slash), some of them probably won't be seen by the people I wrote them for, but... (shrugs)
Sockpuppet of love: Oh, I don't know about 'with style.' 'In Style,' maybe... (laughs) Sorry. There are really a lot of good writers here; they just tend to get discouraged and stop posting without leaving an archive URL.
(Pointed sad look at KarotsaMused)
Jennsyn: (re Prodigal) Oh, wow, I'd given up on anyone liking this one. Thanks! I wouldn't say they don't love each other, though--just that it's not a very, uh, healthy relationship. n,n
DespairingAngel (re Reconciled): Oh, no! (passes over a hot pack for tummy)
rainbowskye: (re Reconciled): (grins) I like random. Random is good.
Rasinah (re Wheels): (griiins) Actually, Hakkai can go terribly, terribly wrong even when he is well understood. More so, actually, I think.
Hojo (re Reconciled): 5am? That's way to early in the morning to be falling down. Do you need any ice? n,n
Archangel Beth (re Ruminations): Yeah… that was a weird one to write. I don't usually go quite that dark--not without a lot more humor to balance it, anyway. Thanks for letting me know it worked out!
Attiqah Gensui (re One Night Stands): (evil grin) Oh, nothing's wrong with it. Nothing at all. He does it so -well,- don't you think?
DoC--pauses to hug--(re LongXin): Oooh, nice point. NICE point. Although, given that Hakuryu is about the size of a swan, a bit squicky. And then you start to wonder about all those times anyone starts making out in the back seat, and whether he gets anything out of it when it's Hakkai... About G/K, though--I'm actually not sure I believe in that one at all. I won't be able to evaluate it until she actually shows us them interacting, you know? But it seems suspect to me, for a genuine love; kind of narcissistic.
RE: COME THE MORNING
Jamaica: (grins) I was thinking Romulan Ale, myself. You have to get it from the Crossover Shop and it's kind of expensive, but they do have that card...
RosaleenDhu: (loves your name--dhu like in skean dhu, right?) I'm trying to do an illustration for this, but my scanner isn't cooperating. (sighs)
Taka and Keichirou: ...and a happy New Year!
Rune: Oh, I don't know. Tell me more. (snickers)
Rasinah: heehee, yeah, I had this picture of Hakkai walking around with this serene, determined look on his face doing TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE things like they were perfectly reasonable while everybody else tried to nail his shoes to the floor/hide in terror.
Permetaform: E!!, huh? Well, it's 85 percent your fault, so be as incoherent as you like. XP (Grins, glomps back)