The Storms That Bind Us

Chapter 3

Hakkai heard a soft thump, accompanied by a tired curse from across the room. He looked over to see Gojyo had tumbled from the chair he'd fallen asleep in. He stood slowly, noticed Hakkai watching him and scratched his head a bit.

"Don't laugh, I see it ready to bubble up."

"I'm sorry," Hakkai chuckled soft.

"And you laugh." He cracked his neck with a sigh then grabbed his pack of cigarettes from the dresser top and lit up, looking over at Sanzo sleeping like the dead. Goku was on the floor beside him, curled up and snoring softly.

Hakkai sat up from his prone position on the floor and pushed the blanket aside as he stood. Thankfully the urgency over Sanzo's condition was no longer a worry. The doctor had given him an injection to kill the infection, and all he needed now was a bit of rest. Luckily it wouldn't be near the length of time Hakkai had guessed.

Goku rolled with a hitched snore and his stomach gave a grumble that filled the quiet of the room. "Hungry," he muttered, then began naming favorite foods in his sleep.

"You got to be kiddin me?" Gojyo looked at Hakkai. "Kid his age should be having wet dreams about big breasted women, but he's creaming his pants about food. It ain't right."

Hakkai yawned. "Well, he has been lacking in his favorite pass time of eating since Sanzo got hurt. He's probably starved."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Perhaps we should order room service. Sanzo really needs to try eating something as well."

"Sounds good, but they don't serve food here. Found out from the cute little maid that helped Goku and I get the ice. There's a small restaurant down the road we can get take out from though."

"Oh, I'll just get dressed and head over then."

"Nah, the monkey and I can go." As he spoke he kicked the muttering Goku awake.

"Ow, you kappa shithead!" He threw his pillow towards his head. "What was that for?!"

"I was getting tired of hearing your twisted dumpling sex moans of dreamy passion, monkey! Get the fuck up, we're getting food."

"Asshole, I'm not a pervert kappa like you. I don't breath sex like.."

"Shut the fuck up!" Sanzo was sitting up and glaring at the two of them like daggers. "I swear I'll shoot both of your asses if you make one more sound!" The priest was panting and had dark circles under his eyes, but he still managed to look menacing as he stared the two down.

"Sorry, Sanzo," Goku yelped as he hurriedly pulled his jeans on and grabbed for his shirt and shoes.

"It's cool....We're going..heh.." Gojyo avoided Sanzo's menacing eyes as he slipped his boots on as quickly as he could.

Hakkai watched them, smiling soft behind a hand and marveled that even in his semi weak condition he could spook the two men with threats of death by bullets. Only when the two rushed from the room and the door slammed closed behind them did Sanzo lay back again. His face lost the cold, hard lines as he took a breath and stared at the ceiling.

"Idiots," he muttered and turned his head to look at Hakkai. "I swear I could kill them sometimes.

"Now, I don't think you actually mean that, Sanzo." Hakkai smiled and walked over, touching his fingers to his forehead. "Well, the fever is gone now. You were lucky they had the antibiotic you needed."

"Yeah, lucky, lucky me."

Hakkai went to take his hand away, but was stopped by a quick grab on his wrist. It shocked him so much that a gasp slipped past his lips. The fingers were firm, but not rough against his skin. Hakkai swallowed, not sure exactly what was going on. Sanzo wasn't speaking, or even looking directly at him, yet his hold stayed and Hakkai was frozen with confusion.

"Sanzo, is something wrong?" His mind flashed back to his soft muttering words from yesterday. In all the excitement he had forgotten it, probably pushed it aside as the rambling of an ill man. Hakkai's lips parted, and his eyes widened ever so slightly when he saw a flush rise to Sanzo's cheeks.

"Hakkai, you know I hate needing help, and it's killing me to ask this." He sighed and let go of his wrist. "Could you help me to the bath? I need to wash, and I don't want to fall on my ass trying myself. At this point, I don't know which is more pathetic."

"Sanzo, there is nothing wrong with asking for assistance. We've all been there before." His voice was soft with compassion. Sanzo, even with all the times he had been wounded, never once could Hakkai remember him outright asking for help. Any normal person would, but Sanzo wasn't your everyday monk. He had pride, or was it just a stubborn streak that ran through that body of his?

"It is for me." His expression darkened. "I don't want your damn pity, Hakkai, understand?!"

"I understand, but I'm not showing pity. You should know me better than that by now."

He went to the bathroom to run the bath in quiet contemplation. When Sanzo had grabbed his wrist he had thought.... What had he thought? That Sanzo was going to mention loving the feel of his hand again? He pulled a large towel from the shelf, along with a bathrobe that hung in the small closet. He set them aside and felt his cheeks burn hot. He looked to the mirror and was shocked to see he was blushing. What the hell was this all about? Hakkai turned on the cool tap water and splashed his face a bit until he was sure the pink color had faded. He chuckled nervously to himself and was glad the water running in the tub overpowered the sound.

"What's so funny?"

Shit, he did hear. He turned off the water before he came out, swallowing down his troubles as he did. He was good at hiding his emotions when need be. He appeared passive as he entered the room, but Sanzo's eyes were narrowed and wary.

"Why, nothing at all. Just something that caught my memory."

"Tsk, fine." Sanzo eased up when Hakkai neared and put his arm around his shoulders for support as he stood unsteadily. He grimaced with the weight on his healing leg, but didn't complain as Hakkai walked slowly with him to the waiting tub. "Wait, let me brush my teeth first. It feels like I've been eating dirt." Hakkai, turned direction and got him to the sink. Sanzo was able to stand with one hand on the counter, and even waved him off a bit to give him space. He was determined to have at least a fraction of independence.

"How does your leg feel?" Hakkai asked as he spit and rinsed thoroughly.

"Not too bad, but not great either." He slipped his arm back into place when Hakkai moved back over and limped to the tub's side. He lifted the bad leg, but stopped and rolled his eyes. "Boxers," he muttered.

"Oh, sorry, I'll get them." His hand wavered at the waistband so long that Sanzo gave an impatient sigh. "Sorry." Nervous laughter was trying to bubble up again, but he suppressed it and gently pulled Sanzo's boxers down over his slim hips. It wasn't like the four of them in their traveling group hadn't seen each other nude on a regular basis. Living in close quarters just made it impossible not to, and normally Hakkai never even thought about it.

He kept his eyes averted without trying to be too obvious about it and helped Sanzo lower into the water. He felt silly and flustered, all over something Sanzo had muttered in a fever induced haze. He left the bathroom, using the excuse that he wanted to clean the room up a bit before Goku and Gojyo got back, but in reality he wanted to be away from him so his unease wouldn't be noticed.

He cracked the window open, hummed a tune and picked up the mess like he had done so many times before. Usually cleaning would clear his mind, but today it wasn't doing that. He could hear the occasional soft splash of water as Sanzo bathed, and those soft murmuring words would return to his thoughts. I've wondered how your hands feel. He didn't even realize that he had stopped cleaning and humming softly as he stood in the middle of the room, being lulled by the sound of water.

"Hakkai."

Hakkai jerked into awareness and cleared his throat. "Yes, Sanzo?"

"I'm done."

"Alright." He made his voice sound bright, but it was overly done as he walked back into the bathroom that was now filled with moist steam. He unfolded the thick towel to get it ready, and turned with it, only to get his wrist snatched again. He was yanked down beside the tub, knees thumping onto the tiled floor.

"Okay, spill it, Hakkai? Why are you acting all skittish around me all of the sudden?

"What do you mean?" He swallowed when Sanzo's face inched closer to his. He focused on a droplet of water on the tip of his nose rather than make eye contact.

"Don't be fucking stupid. I cracked my leg open, not my head. I can tell if any of you three are off, and you are, right now."

"Okay." Hakkai sighed. It seemed there was no use trying to hide it now. "Before you passed out yesterday, you said something." Sanzo's grip tightened, his wet fingers sliding further on his forearm. "I'm sure it was just the fever."

"What did I say?" His voice was so low and intense that Hakkai just had to meet his eyes. "Tell me."

"I felt your head to check your fever." He licked his lips as he paused. "You said that my hand felt good." Sanzo's hand tightened a fraction again as he was pulled so close their noses were nearly touching.

"And?"

"Then you said that you've wondered how my hands felt." His purple eyes narrowed. "I'm sure it was only the fever," Hakkai added with rushed breath. The last thing he wanted to do was upset, or worse, piss Sanzo off. Why did he have to make him tell? Dammit, this was going to make things uncomfortable for them both now unless he did something about it. "Look, lets just forget about it. My fingers were cool against your head, so naturally it probably felt nice."

"Hakkai."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Hakkai was pulled forward to the warm feel of Sanzo's lips covering his own. His senses woke up to several different things at once. First being that he was making a soft groan against the kiss that sounded like surrender to his own ears. Second, that he was kissing back with intense enthusiasm, and third, his lower body was tingling with arousal.

Sanzo's tongue skimmed along, the slick feel of it probing the depths of his mouth. His own rolled and danced with it, hot, wet and eager. The hand that was clutching his arm moved up to cup his cheek, then slid around to the back of his neck. It was damp against his skin as his fingers massaged the slight tension away. The rest of his body was relaxed, but there was something nagging Hakkai, even as they continued to kiss with growing passion.

The thought of their companions coming back at any moment was something that kept brushing at his mind. The sensible part of him insisted he stop this now, but instead his body shifted harder against the side of the bothersome tub in an effort to get closer. He couldn't remember a kiss consuming him so completely that he didn't want to stop.

One hand gripped the tub's side, and he braved a touch along Sanzo's raised arm with the other. He savored every contour of tight muscle up to his shoulder, then played his trembling hand down over his wet chest. His palm brushed over an erect nipple. It felt good against his hand, so he pressed gentle, making soft circular motions over the nub.

Sanzo growled against his lips and Hakkai whimpered when he pulled back with a soft popping noise. Hakkai faintly thought he was done with him, then shivered when Sanzo's lips and teeth grazed along his jawline to the curve of his earlobe. Hakkai's head fell back an inch as Sanzo's hand cupped the back of it, cradling it as he tasted and explored his neck. His own panting breath filled the small room as his half open eyes looked lazily at the ceiling.

"Hakkai," he purred as his tongue licked hot along the curve of his ear. Hakkai gasped, the sound sending a jolt through his loins. He was about to speak, but Sanzo cut him off, panting hot against his ear. "Get me back in bed."

"Sanzo?" He licked his lips, unsure, eyes still looking up at the bland painted ceiling.

He sighed, and Hakkai was sure it had a sound of regret. "I'm feeling tired again." He moved away, droopy purple eyes pulling Hakkai in with their deep color.

"Alright," Hakkai managed soft, then heard the door in the next room open, followed by the two familiar voices arguing over who was eating what first. He took a breath, stood to take the towel up again, and even pulled off that nothing had just happened between the two of them as he gently helped Sanzo back on the bed.

The rest of the day was like any other. Goku and Gojyo arguing, Sanzo yelling his threats, and Hakkai just trying to take care of the three with a soft smile like it was the most normal thing in the world. The only difference from this everyday routine was the knowing looks between green and purple eyes, and the silent promise that they would have their chance to embrace again.