Three blessedly uneventful days later, Gojyo dropped his bag inside the front door of his cabin, hooking his foot around the edge of the door to keep it open for Hakkai, who was following closely behind.

"My official declaration is that if they want us to perform like storytelling sheep for them again, then they have to come to us," Gojyo stated firmly, taking Hakkai's pack from him and dropping it with equal verve.

"I'm sure that they'll take that into account," Hakkai replied, bending over and picking both their packs up, and disappearing in the bedroom with them.

"I'm serious," Gojyo said, petulantly, pulling a chair out and sitting down to loosen the ties on his boots. No matter that they were already untied. He pulled them off and set them by the door.

"You always are," Hakkai replied from the bedroom, already unpacking the bags, and sorting the contents by whether they needed to be washed off in a bucket or hung on the clothesline ultimately. Gojyo snorted in response and followed him into the room. He grabbed the pile of cookware, and carried it back out to the kitchen. They didn't exactly own a lot of stuff, and any cooking they were doing tonight was going to be in the same things they'd taken with them. Gojyo wasn't about to miss dinner.

Now that he thought about it, though, he wasn't even sure they'd left any food behind. Nothing perishable, of course. The rice bucket in the corner would have something in it, but that was all he could be certain of. They were going to get home and starve because neither of them had remembered to stop for food.Gojyo grunted in annoyance and pulled some water from the sink, scrubbing the dishes angrily.

Hakkai walked in after him, stopped, and watched him for a few moments. Intently. Then turned away and began to dig through the cupboard, pulling out random objects. When Gojyo set the last pan aside with a thump, Hakkai straightened.

"Why don't you go get cleaned up, Gojyo? I'll get something ready for dinner."

Gojyo blinked. For the most part, Hakkai didn't complain if Gojyo did the dishes. But, then, Gojyo reflected, maybe Hakkai was just hungry and afraid Gojyo might break something they needed for cooking.

"I'll do that," he said, wiping his hands on the seat of his pants and turning back towards the bedroom.

"Gojyo? I checked the hot water. There should be enough for you to take a shower."

Gojyo hesitated, one foot through the doorway to the bedroom.

"Thanks."

As he opened the bathroom door, Gojyo noticed that yes, Hakkai had indeed tried the hot water. The entire place was steamed up bad enough that he could barely see. The man had also, of course, laid out a towel on the toilet seat and put the soap and shampoo right next to the shower entrance.. How thoughtful of him, Gojyo thought, looking through the thick steam which was condensing on the toilet tank and walls, and thickly covering the mirror. Gojyo stripped off his clothes hastily, actually kind of glad for the sauna treatment, since the chill of the fall evening was penetrating the cabin, and turned on the hot water tap, and then the cold. Gingerly testing it to make sure it wouldn't burn him or something.

It felt fantastic. He hadn't had a shower for several days. He couldn't remember when the last one was, actually. The hot water beat down on him, washing away travel grime. The oil and dirt washed from his hair, and it was back to its usual color from the dullish pink it had become.

He stayed in the shower until the water began to run a bit cooler, trusting that the heater would be able to heat more for Hakkai by the time they'd finished with dinner, then stepped out, grabbing the towel from the toilet seat and wrapping it around his waist.

Peering out into the kitchen briefly, Gojyo watched as Hakkai seemed to masterfully be cooking a magnificent meal. Either he was making the rice into cute lil' animal shapes, or the guy had actually managed to find something else in the cabin. Hakuryu looked at him and mewled, and Hakkai turned around at the sound.

"Food's almost ready," he said, looking Gojyo over sharply. "I should have it ready by the time you get dressed."

Gojyo smirked. "But I'm comfortable like this."

"Of course you are. Now get dressed so that you can have your food can be ready."

Gojyo snorted, and turned back to the bedroom, rifling through his drawer for a clean tank and jeans. He pulled them on, and then contemplated his hair. It was annoying him tonight, definitely. It kept getting in front of his eyes and making it impossible to see anything else. He pulled it back.

Hakkai was true to his word and the food was on the table when Gojyo walked back into the kitchen. The redhead looked uncritically at the meal, if he could have found anything to be critical about. Hakkai, as always, had made something out of nothing. It wasn't a feast, exactly. Just a few dishes but...okay, who was he kidding? They were two youngish men living in a two-room cabin in the middle of the woods. Hakkai's creations were feasts. Far better than what he'd been eating before Hakkai, at least.

"Something wrong?" Hakkai asked, from the corner where he was, Gojyo noted, wiping up the last bits of the mess he'd made in the preparations of their food.

"I was just expecting my boots to be stewed, or something," Gojyo replied, "this isn't quite what I was expecting."

"I see," Hakkai said. "Well, I could start again, if you like."

"No, this is fine," Gojyo replied hastily. No need to make the man think he might prefer boots. Hakkai was the sort to follow up. He looked back at the food. It was making his mouth water.

"Please don't drool on the table, Gojyo," Hakkai said as he sat down. He examined the meal himself for a moment, then watched Gojyo as the man grabbed some for himself, as though he expected the meal not to be to Gojyo's liking.

Gojyo barely noticed. They were home, and even if there wasn't any real food around, Hakkai had done a damn good job of faking it. It can't have been easy.

"Thanks, Hakkai," Gojyo said suddenly, realizing that the man had foregone his own shower just to make dinner. He was tolerating the dirt and grime just so they could have a meal Gojyo felt suddenly guilty for using all the hot water.

Hakkai blinked slowly, then smiled. "Of course, Gojyo," he replied, digging into his own meal.