Fantasies

The rain drummed softly against the window panes, the only sound to break the quiet of the samll inn room. The darkness outside seemed to be trying to snake its way past the glass, as if the small storm wished to grow larger, to consume everything in its path. It failed, however, for two flickering cangles pushed back the blackness. Though, in their desperate battle, they failed to fend off against the eerie shadows that lingered around within the room itself, dancing on the walls, floor and ceiling. They even swayed across the furniture; a small dresser, a table, and a single bed that took up barely any space in the small, nearly cramped room.

Upon the bed in question rested a solitary figure, hands crossed under black hair. Laying on his back, with one knee bent upward, he closed his eyes to the light and dark of the room. Hakkai\'s chest rose and fell in a slow, deliberate rhythm. He wasn\'t sleeping, though \'rest and relaxation\' were not words that even his casual pose could attempt to reflect. He felt, in all reality, was feeling more tension now than he had when they\'d battled a particularly sad case of demons just the night before. His chest continued to rise and fall in that steady movement.


Damn rain....


The rain always made it harder to be at peace. Especially at night time, when the darkness threatened to swallow up everything around him, and the silence was near deafening. It was quiet rains that were the worst, in his mind. At least, if a storm had thunder or lightning, it seemed less like a setting for a nightmare. When it was just the small, soft sound of droplets... It was so hard to concentrate on anything but the rain.

It was raining that night too... Hakkai thought, letting his eyes open a crack to stare up at the dance of shadows that played across the ceiling above him. Kanan...

His thoughts were broken, from both the rain and his slow rising memories, as voices drifted under the crack at the bottom of the door, seeping into the stillness of the room. Those voices pushed back the flowing tide of dark emotions, and brought a vague grin to Hakkai\'s face.

\"I never touched your stupid dim sum, monkey I think you\'re just makin\' up lies because you ate the damnedshit so fast, you can\'t even remember what it looked like!\"

The voices drew closer, and Hakkai shifted upon the bed, turning his eyes a little toward the door just as it opened.

\"Nuh-uh! I saw you steal it from me, when you thought I wasn\'t looking! Stop making stuff up, you jackass!\"

Goku stomped into the room, an angry look upon his youthful features. The candles flickered, threatening to retreat from their war against the darkness, but managed to somehow remain lit, once more standing their ground. The boy scowled hatefully back toward the other man, taller, man that followed him.

\"I had my own! Why would I want to try and eat something that you put your hairy monkey fingers on? That\'s just disgusting.\"

Gojyo trailed into the room a few odd steps behind his comrade, one hand holding aloft a candle holder, the other reaching to close the door behind him. Hakkai couldn\'t help but turn his eyes away from his crimson-haired friend, closing them once more after he heard the door click firmly in place.

\"My fingers aren\'t hairy!\" Goku protested loudly, turning fully to stare up at the taller man.

In response, Gojyo rolled his eyes, and sneered down at the youth. \"Just like my di--\"

\"Ah-ah, Gojyo... Goku... I\'m laying here, I\'m awake, and yes... I can\'t hear you.\"

The younger boy\'s eyes brightened as he was reminded of Hakkai\'s presence, and he whirled around, practically galloping toward the bed.

\"Oh, yeah! Hakkai\'s here. This means I don\'t have to talk to Gojyo anymore.\" The boy nearly cheered, scuttling to sit at the foot of the bed, the springs squeaking slightly in protest to even his small amount of weight. He put his hands out behind him, palm down, and leaned back a little. \"What a relief!\"

Muttering under his breath, Gojyo trailed slowly over toward the table to set the candle he carried down. Afterward, he moved over to stare out the window into the darkness that lay beyond. \"As if you had anything good to say, anyway. The only thing you talk about is food, you annoying monkey...\"

Hakkai sighed a little. He was used to the bickering between his two comrades so much that, by now, it really didn\'t phase him that much at all. It was just slightly tedious to have to listen to it so much in such a confined space. Pushing himself to sit up, Hakkai swung his legs over the edge of the bed until his bare feet connected upon the cool wood of the floor.

\"Where\'s Sanzo?\" He inquired aloud, not because he was really curious, but because it was a great opportunity for a topic change.

Goku looked over his shoulder at Hakkai, and frowned a little. After a moment, he cast his eyes away again, looking aimlessly to the side. \"He\'s in his room.\"

\"Moody bastard.\" Quipped Gojyo from the window, his hands lifting slightly to make a slip into their respective trouser pockets. \"He threw one of his candles at us when we came in to ask for more money. Pig-monkey over there ate all his noodles, and wanted more.\"

\"If you hadn\'t eaten my dim sum, I wouldn\'t have had to get anything else!\" Goku once more started to protest, as though he\'d forgotten about his desire not to speak with the half-breed.

There was a snort from Gojyo in response, but nothing more.

Hakkai reached up to rub the back of his neck slowly. This rain. It was definitely affecting them all in one way or another. That in itself bothered him more than the fact that they were stuck with just candles, and only two rooms between the four of them. The absent thought of Hakuryuu sleeping outside, albeit in the stables nearby, gave Hakkai a small stabbing pain of guilt. Though, it wasn\'t raelly his fault that this place didn\'t allow \'pets\' inside. He glanced toward Gojyo, toward the window.


Damn rain....


Goku lay back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling like Hakkai had been doing only moments before. It was again silent in the room, save for the pitter-patter of the rain against the window, and the breathing of the three men that fidgeted restlessly about in the flickering shadows.

After a few minutes, the boy spoke up again. \"It\'ll be daytime soon, huh? Do you think Sanzo will let me get breakfast early, since Gojyo ate all of my dinner?\"

Gojyo fumed near the window, turning a scowl toward the monkey demon, and leaning into his shout of, \"Since when did it change from dim sum to your entire fucking fifty plates of food?!\"

Hakkai grinned in amusement, however brief, but it hardly drowned out his sullen feelings brought on by the rain.

tbc....