（最游记同人）镜里镜外(18)

"Then what should I do?"

"First, drop your wall 'cause I'm too tired to give you the third degree. I'll wait till tomorrow, so think up some good reasons to give me. Second, leave a man in peace while he sleeps, Hakkai. But if you wanna do me a really big favor, go outside and fetch a pretty lady I can spend the night with. It's still cold in here." The words of a man who would probably die of hypothermia before the sun comes back up.

/Yeah, and no better way to die than that way./

"Sorry. Can't."

"Figures."

A thoughtful pause. "Will I do?"

"What?!" Gojyo exclaimed, shooting straight up from his makeshift bed as Tenpou pulled off his white sash. Stared, open mouthed as he slowly undid the clasps of his green overshirt. Pulled that off and accompanied it with the black one underneath until he was completely bare from the waist up.

Hakkai looked at him. Quirked a wan smile. Gojyo paled.

Then came the belt...

"Hakkai! Wait!" No. No. Keep going please. "This...this..." This is about time. "This isn't right." Oh, but isn't it? "Look, aw shit, I know you feel bad, but you don't have to..." But it would be nice if you... "To do that. Not for me." Just for me. "I was kidding about the girl, really!" Of course.

Then came the belt. Off it went, casually as if Hakkai had done this for him a thousand times. No trace of shame or embarrassment in stripping before his best friend who suppressed every instinct to grab and ravage him right there and now.

A glint of amusement flickered in his one good eye. "You don't actually think I'm going to have sex with you, do you?" He undid the top button of his pants. "Strip please."

"The thought crossed my mind."

That's it, Gojyo concluded to himself with a bit of resignation as he took of his vest. There was no use talking to Hakkai when he was like this- especially when he felt like he had a debt to pay. But dammit, he has got to be the master of mixed messages...and a fucking tease. He's a fucking tease, he mentally grumbled, pulling the white tank top over his head and shrugging off his pants; leaving on the boxers.

"So what the fuck are you planning on doing?"

Equally dressed- or rather- undressed, Tenpou moved over beside him until the distance between them was nonexistent; Gojyo's chest against his back. "Now put your arms around me. You'll feel warmer that way."

It suddenly clicked. "Ah. So that's what you were getting at." Gojyo's skin was as cold as a corpse's. It made Tenpou's spine tingle when strong muscular arms wove their way around his body. Made him think of someone else who by now probably had his arms around someone else. Made him burn to death of jealousy.

"Comfortable?" Tenpou asked tentatively, pulling the blanket over the two of them.

"Yeah. More than I feel I should be."

"Still cold?"

"Not as much, but given the situation, I think we're doing good. Hey."

"Mmh?"

"What if the monk and the saru find us like this?"

"Let them."

"Sanzo'll bitch about it."

"Words are words, Gojyo. Rumors are rumors. They never bothered you before." Not that he was totally alluding to Gojyo at this point.

"Well yeah."

Two good-looking guys living together did stir up a mountain of gossip in their old village. Not that Gojyo gave a damn. Sure, Hakkai did act like a housewife most of the time- only without the jealous bitching whenever Gojyo went out for a night on the town. He'd find breakfast ready whenever he came back and fresh clothes on his bed- an implicit request that he take a shower before eating. He thought...and perhaps that thought held up until now...that Hakkai simply found it distasteful to smell like sex while at the table. But the fact that Hakkai was always at the table when he ate, intently evading any conversation that might allude to the half-breed's active sex-life...and the fact that there they were right now, in each other's arms at Hakkai's order...maybe it wasn't a matter of propriety, rather...

Maybe it was jealous bitching.

Gojyo bit his lip at the other's silence. He could only hear the wind, the fire, and their breathing- Hakkai's steady and forcibly focused while his own was ragged and irregular. He pulled closer, lulled to comfort by the heat emanating from Hakkai's smooth back which was a complete contrast from the rough scar on his abdomen- something that Gojyo found himself unconsciously stroking; exploring like territory newly acquired. Hakkai's breath hitched, yet Gojyo didn't bother to stop. He was starting to like it and guessing from the soft moan that escaped Hakkai's lips, he was liking it too.

It stretched across him like a spider's web. Gojyo knew every inch from memory. Months of changing bandages have etched it forever in his mind. Now he traced its fine lines with featherlight touches that made the other tremble, he thought, with delight. "Gojyo..." Up a little first. Then a little higher where there was barely any scar, then down lower to the heart of the violent laceration. Then lower...