"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...