Disclaimer: I don't own these delicious boys! Sigh! I wish I did.
Hopeless!
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So! How hard can it be? Just because HE wasn't here meant that he was helpless. Just because he had gotten used to having someone around who would cook for him, pick up after him and throw out his well thumbed through magazines. He'd managed perfectly before. Well survived anyway. Had never got food poisoning, and still managed to come home in one piece more than once. So surely this was within his abilities. He could suppose that it had been awhile since he had done this. Just how hard could it be?
Gojyo took a deep breath. He put a frying pan on the stove. He took a bottle of the golden liquid and poured some into the pan. He turned on the gas and lit the hob. Hmm maybe he had the heat up too strong, as the oil had started to smoke a bit. Unfortunately turning it down didn't help much. Well maybe it was something that didn't get washed off the pan from being used previously. He took an egg from the tray and broke it neatly into the hot oil. Well, now it didn't seem that the heat was high enough, because the egg didn't sizzle as it should have done. So he turned the heat up just a touch. After a few minutes the egg on the whole looked cooked. There was a peculiar smell but Gojyo didn't take any notice.
He took a frying slice and tried to slide it underneath the egg and loosen it off the surface. Tried; being the operative word here. Hmm, note to self; remind Hakkai to buy another non stick pan. This one was not very non-stick anymore. After successfully peeling it off the pan, Gojyo finally managed to land the egg unceremoniously onto two previously buttered pieces of bread on a plate. Hmm,there was that peculiar smell again, but he still paid it no mind.
He put the cooking utensils into the sink; he then settled himself on a chair and proceeded to eat. Ack! What the f…! This day was just could not get any worse. Now it was the egg that tasted odd. He was a simple man and he simply wanted a fried egg sandwich. That was not too much to ask for was it? Ok maybe he was still a little sloshed from last night so maybe that made everything taste a little off. Arrg! Gojyo put his head in his hands. Well he had to go brush his teeth to get that horrid taste out of his mouth and he would go lie down. Maybe the big bad world would have been swallowed up by the time he woke up and things would be fine. AND since HE wasn't here…he could sleep in the bed.
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It had already been a couple of weeks since the Banri incident, a new door had been put in and Gojyo and Hakkai seemed to have re-settled into some kind of accepting truce. It wasn't an uneasy one. However neither was it an all's-well-that-ends-well one. It was a slow kind of learning trust, a kind of re-learning perhaps to find their footing which somehow was there for Gojyo when there had been Gonou.
But Hakkai was a re-made man. Youkai. He was more guarded, and Gojyo who loved them both wasn't quite sure where he stood. It felt like Gojyo was in between some kind invisible tug of war as Hakkai learned to accept who he was now and tried to keep the ever present pall of guilt and self loathing at bay. And Gojyo, of all people could definitely understand self loathing. And the need to be in control, to have a handle on a situation was there.
This early morning had found Hakkai with the need to get out and get some breathing space. Alone. Just for a few moments. Last night he had noticed that Gojyo had come home drunk. Not unusual in itself. What was odd was that it was earlier than the norm, and he did not have that lingering smell of woman scent on his skin. And when Gojyo had come in, he had given Hakkai an odd look. A not-quite- smile with hidden meaning. It had thrown Hakkai off course.
So he was out wandering the wilds near the house, in fact not far from where their first meeting had taken place. It seemed odd to be out here in broad daylight. Without the rain and the dark. Here in sunlight, it seemed to give that memory a hazy ethereal feel. The few moments of consciousness when he thought he had looked into the red eyes of grim death, so beautiful and welcoming were they; that he had felt himself smile before giving over to the darkness.
Hakkai shook his head. He was becoming maudlin and melancholic again. He was wont to do that when he found himself too much alone. Yes it was time to seek out his housemate, and dissipate this air of mustiness about his shoulders.
He meandered slowly back, the path intuitively remembered.
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…Several hours later…
Something woke him up. Yeah there were sounds coming from the kitchen. Hakkai. Gojyo got up, he had to go and see if his friend was alright. Hakkai had already gone when Gojyo had woken up. He had to go and tell Hakkai about the non stick pan as well. He was glad that he had something as mundanely ridiculous as that to talk about. He, Sha Gojyo expert with the pick up lines came unstuck with Hakkai who was miles and smiles ahead of him in wit and intellect.
When he got to the kitchen, Gojyo saw that Hakkai was sat at the table pondering the bottle of oil he had used earlier. As soon as he walked in and Hakkai saw him, he had put the monocle down on the table.
"Gojyo," he managed to say. Hakkai took a couple of deep breaths, and his body seemed to shake inwardly.
It was then that Gojyo realized that the verdant eyed daemon was laughing. And o how Gojyo really loved to hear that sound. But however much the redhead loved to hear this man laugh, it was of great concern if he didn't know the why of it, especially now it seemed that he himself was the root cause of it. Hmm. Obviously he had done something insanely silly. Again. He chose to ignore it in favour of the conversation he had planned.
"Hey Hakkai we need to buy a new non stick frying pan and I think we should chuck those eggs out, I think they may be off or something!"
"Ahahaha! Ahahaha!" As bubbles of chuckles escaped his lips.
Alright this was too much. Now he had to know what was going on. Whatever it was. It was unnerving him.
"Hey what's so funny?" Gojyo queried. "If you don't stop I'm going to have to resort to drastic measures!" He didn't know if what really if anything that he would do. But he had to say something.
"You my friend are the most amazing person. I think I really needed that!" Hakkai managed to say at last. "Yes, yes. One Gojyo a day till depression goes away!" he smiled at that. They were twinkling bright in the afternoon light, without the glass to hide behind.
"No Gojyo we do not need a new pan, nor are the eggs bad," Hakkai paused- for effect maybe "you just shouldn't have used this to try frying your egg in!" he picked up the bottle. He handed it over to Gojyo.
Roses' Lime Cordial. That was what the label said.
"Now I think I will try washing the pan out... how about I make us some lunch? Fried egg sandwiches?" and Hakkai broke into outright merriment this time.
Gojyo wanted to sink and disappear into the wall. He put the bottle down. After a while he began to see the humour in it. But hey it wasn't that funny… was it? He thought about it for a minute, but it was worth it to see those eyes sparkle then with amusement. Never mind if it was at his expense.
"Hakkai… what happens to Gojyo once the depression goes away?"
"Don't know. I don't know yet."
Owari
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