Hakkai's laugh was as soft as wind in the green leaves as he looked at the faint lines on his hand.  "I guess I won't live long after all, ne?"  He said without much rancor.

Sitting next to him in the jeep parked at the forest's edge, Gojou was about to say something when suddenly Goku sprang over the vehicle's back.  "Does this help?" he cackled, the black magic marker whipping through the air and across Hakkai's palm like some deranged bit of calligraphy before he bounded away, immobilized leg and all, to Sanzo's bellowing.

"DAMNIT, GOKUUUUUUUU!!!"

Calm emerald eyes met garnet with a barely disguised grin, and the two men couldn't help but laugh.  "C'mon, Hakkai.. let's go for a walk."  Gojou pushed himself out of the seat.  "I'm sure it's nicer somewhere where the stinky priest and monkey boy aren't making a commotion."

"Ne, Jiipu.. keep an eye on them, please?" Hakkai patted the jeep's hood, which immediately resolved itself into a cat-sized dragon with a little affirmative squeak. "thank you!"  He stretched, following Gojou down the deerpath winding into the verdant shadows, as behind them, there was the solid "smack" of Sanzo's fan finding the back of Goku's head.  

"Oiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!"

They walked in companionable silence, until the halfbreed youkai paused.  "You've had a hard time of it."  He said, gesturing vaguely with his cigarette.

"...We all did, Gojou... You.. are you healing?"  One gentle hand rested on Gojou's chest where Sanzo had had to shoot him to save his life.  

"You did a good job."  He laughed.  "Your heart isn't so shriveled as you'd like to think it is.. Although mine must be for that prissy priest to miss it like that."  The laugh faded as he saw the ghost of pain pass like a shadow across Hakkai's face.  "You've been through alot."

"I..."  the words faded as Gojou leaned closer and kissed him.  It was slow and sweet and Hakkai only startled for a moment, allowing his friend's exploration until he finished.  He smiled then, his bad eye crinkling faintly less than the other.  "What brought *that* on?"

"I don't like to see your kind face sad, friend."  A brief dip of the head hid Gojou's face behind a crimson veil as he ran a tobacco-stained thumb across Hakkai's cheek.  "I don't like to see you hurting."

"You're so sentimental."  Hakkai murmured, his hand, still unmoved from Gojou's chest, gently fisting in the halfbreed's shirt and pulling him close again.  "You're always too kind to me."

The leaves rustled, soft as shared memory, as they sank to the ground together. Tawny fingers undid the knotted closures on Hakkai's shirt with practiced efficiency as the kiss resumed with no more hurry than it had started with.

The cool-shade breeze shivered across Hakkai's skin as the dark green fabric slithered down his arms.

Crimson hair soon replaced it, as Gojou's mouth began to trace the tendons in his friend's throat.

The healer's long fingers tightened in the red strands with a soft, half-chuckling moan.

"Rogue…"

He murmured against Gojou's temple before the halfbreed slipped lower, lips tenderly tracing the runnel of scar tissue along Hakkai's abdomen.

Rubine eyes briefly looked up with a twinkle. "Is that a complaint, then?" One cigarette-stained finger idly trailed along the waistband of the other's jeans.

"Tch."

The breeze ruffled Hakkai's unruly dark cocoa hair and he toyed with a trailing strand of crimson.

"Hardly."

"Mm. " The twinkle blossomed into a wicked grin, the kind that Hakkai had seen make women throw themselves at Gojou's feet.

"Then, let the master return to his work."

The words were punctuated by the soft trail of the lanky youkai's tounge, and the quiet rasp of a zipper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"OI! Sanzo... Hakkai and that stupid kappa have been gone an awfully long time!" Goku fidgeted, squinting into the forest as a soft bird's cry came from it's sun-dappled emerald depths.  "...In fact.. I think that *was* Hakkai... They must be in trouble!!!"  He shot to his feet, ready to bound off, before Sanzo grabbed him by the belt and yanked him back down.

"They're fine, stupid. Now, finish cleaning those pots."  The priest said with a sour blue gaze.

"But.." Wide golden eyes blinked at faint sound.  "…that was Gojou!!! I gotta..."  His speech was abruptly cut off as the priest stuffed a meat bun in his mouth. "WAI! FOOD!"

Sanzo rolled his eyes before glancing back into the trees, a little smile passing across his face.  "Shut up and eat, Goku. Everything's going to be alright."

END :)