title: circular logic
by: tyrne j
series: gmsaiyuki
disclaimer: written by a fan, for fans only. eat at will. will will love you for it.
note: this is an LJ-fic. Meaning, I wrote this while on Semagic, typing for an LJ post. I don't claim these to be giant masterpieces (I never do for any of my fics), but as I like short fics, I like these fair enough.

(begin)

I remember saying once, that the four of them would kill each other before they even started. Not a hard thing to figure out; the arguing and fighting caused rumbles throughout the temple whenever they clashed.

Rarely took sides, though whenever it happened, it was usually the same pair-ups, mostly, I think, because they suspected that if they didn't, then living with the other would be hell somewhere down the line. You don't expect them to take anyone's side, anyway.

It was probably why everyone else said it was a good idea.

In any case, I'm still surprised they made it out of there in their four separate pieces, much less this far.

I'm pretty sure, though, that I'd made my loyalties clear.

There was no road, as usual.

Smile was at the wheel, one hand guiding, the other trying to unfold a map, I suspect. He had a talent for getting us lost, even when the request was to go in one direction, all the time. It was as if they intended for us to use the roads, but forgot that there were none this far out.

Frown was reading the morning paper; I could hear it rustling in the wind. I'd believe that if he had any way of keeping it off of his robes, he'd be drinking coffee, as well. Imagining Frown with coffee over his robes was fun. I found a sizable rock and drifted toward it; Smile's grip was loose.

Bump.

Four bodies and a few bags lifted in midair and landed with distinct thumps. From the back came a yell:

"Hey, watch where you're going! We nearly fell out!" Sounded almost like Chomp, but the wind was getting stronger; we were headed downhill.

"Save me a lot of trouble." That was Frown, mumbling into his newspaper. Smile was chuckling, and if I could, I guess I would have been, too.

The two in the back, Chomp and Wink, were affronted by this, but none of this should have come as a big surprise, anyway. Like I said, I believed they would kill each other before the journey started, and I don't say these things without reason. I certainly have nicknames for them for a reason, too, and it's not because I can't remember their names.

I just don't think names are that important, so much as the basic view. Reincarnation, and all that.

And it just didn't seem right to name them Fight 1, Fight 2, Fight 3, and Fight 4. Never as good with numbers.

Chomp and Wink were fighting in the back again, and any moment now, Frown will -

Bang.

Ah, there we go. A death threat, a chuckle, a few whimpers. Peace and quiet for the next ten minutes.

This, surprisingly enough, isn't that bad for an extended trip.

What bothered me most about going this way was the fact that I was always going to end the day with a blaring orange circle burned into my retina for the rest of the night. I should've invested in shades.

It was getting that way now, Frown having read through the paper multiple times, and Chomp having eaten nearly everything in the lunch basket, and Wink having snagged whatever Chomp left behind, and Smile now looking around for signs of civilization nearby. The end of the day.

And I wondered if, centuries from now, I'd see the same thing from different eyes. It's like seeing a wave swell and die in the same breath, the feeling I got from all of this.

There were BadGuys at the inn. They fight, kick the BadGuys out, order food, fight over the food, head out to separate rooms because they can't stand the sight of each other.

Yet they can't seem to live without each other.

I remember agreeing to follow them because I thought that without me, they'd fall apart. It's the other way around; I realize this every night I see them too tired to argue over who gets the bed, and I wonder why I seem to forget it all in the mornings, when they're ready to pop each other's heads off.

It's happened before in previous lives, I suppose. Like waves.

Chomp's whining to Frown about dinner, and Wink's nowhere to be found, but the neither are the ladies.

It had rained, so Smile is covering me with a blanket. I have my loyalties.

I suspect that in a century or so, after all this is over, I'll see them again.

Maybe then I'll remember not to doubt them as much.

(end)