Rhyming Games

I'm sure a lot of you were annoyed by the cliffhanger last chapter, but look! The next chapter already! Enjoy!


Rhyming Games

Chapter 5: Black Tattoos and Brunette Blues

There had been a forest. There had been the soft sounds of rustling trees and the occasional bird chirp. There had been crisp, pine-scented air and a cool breeze that raised the hair on his arms and peaked his exposed nipples. There had been dying sunlight filtering through the trees… brittle, winter light, coming from the west…

But now it had vanished. Hakkai’s senses had all turned inward the second that bit of metal left his ear.

With one lurching heartbeat, he felt it start. His eyes closed automatically. A dreadful pain took hold of his frail frame, clenching and spasming from within. He staggered for a moment, then dropped, the sudden and completely unfamiliar feeling disorienting him. He was clutching his arms across his scarred belly, where the pain was worst, but didn’t even notice he’d done it, because a terrible itching, buzzing, pounding had begun in his head.

He couldn’t think! He couldn’t even begin to control what was happening. He could only feel. Could only react. He felt like he was sinking, farther and farther in some deep blackness where there was no thought, no need for thought.

As he sank, the pain became more distant. He was becoming numb…

NO! No, this was not the plan!

It was difficult, and it hurt, but he finally managed to regroup his thoughts and attempt to regain control. He tried concentrating the way he did when he gathered his chi, and slowly… slowly…

He felt himself rising back to the surface of his mind. The pain appeared to have lessened now. The awful pressure in his head was subsiding, but whether by his own power or on its own, he wasn’t entirely sure.

The clouds of pain and dizziness in his mind finally lifted, and took the fierce stabbing pains in his gut along with them. He realized he had regained control completely, and that the worst of the physical pain had passed. What remained was an insistent, but very manageable ache throughout his whole body. And it was then that he realized he had yet to open his eyes.

He opened them slowly, but the sudden flood of the senses still surprised him.

Control, he thought as he noticed the grass in front of him waving in the breeze, each blade crystal clear to his eyes, and all of them competing for his attention at once.

Control, he thought as he heard every rustle of every branch and leaf and animal as they moved.

Control, he thought, as he smelled the green earth, the stream upwind, the flowers and the scents of beasts and birds and the rainstorm approaching from the north.

You’re doing well, just keep the control… You are calm and steady… you are unconcerned by the change… Just keep control…

After several long moments, spent trying to quell the urge to flinch at every new sensation, he realized that he was curled on the ground, hugging his arms to his chest with his legs drawn up in nearly a fetal position. Slowly, very slowly, as every movement made his eyes dart, his ears roar, and his pulse race… he rose to a sitting position, and for the first time, saw himself for what he truly was.

The first things he noticed were his arms. A winding, twisting vine, black as sin, adorned his still pale skin, twining up his forearms to end in abstract leaves on his hands.

CONTROL, he thought when he saw the graceful curves of the claws on his hands.

After a moment, he rose carefully to his feet, and was surprised by the effortlessness of the movement. He moved as though his joints were greased lightning, his muscles living steel. He felt light, almost weightless, supported by such easy power.

He looked down at as much of himself as he could see. The tattoo twisted over his whole body, as far as he could tell. He could see it emerging from beneath his pants, ending at his taloned feet. The vine shapes appeared to gather or originate at his scar. He wasn’t much surprised.

He ran his deadly hands carefully up his body, across his shoulders and up his neck to his face. His hair had grown; it now hung in loose, shaggy tendrils around his neck. He discovered longer canines in his mouth, which would explain the odd new crevices he’d been tonguing. His left hand discovered that the other two ear cuffs were still in place, though the ears that supported them had lengthened considerably. He couldn’t see his face, but he decided he didn’t really want to.

Now he had only one place left to check.

Control, he thought as he carefully undid the fly of his pants.

He reached a hand inside.

It was definitely larger than what he’d had before, and warm. He gasped when his hand caressed it, not expecting such a pleasant reaction from his own curious touch. His face was flushed a dark pink, he could feel, but his personal exploration felt awfully nice, and he didn’t see any need to stop. After reaching further down to palm his new larger, fuller set of balls, he pulled himself out to see and inspect.

One small tendril of black vine tattoo spiraled neatly from base to tip.

His cock was now half hard. He imagined it would be fairly magnificent when fully erect. He tried to recall the sight of Gojyo’s, to make the comparison, but the memory had faded too much.

He looked around until he spotted his abandoned ear cuff on the ground, then picked it up and laid it carefully with his clothes. His right hand was still holding his cock, and his newly enhanced member seemed to be enjoying the attention, but Hakkai called on his will power and zipped himself back up.

He stood shirtless in the now darkened forest, but his good eye still saw better than his human eyes had on the brightest day, and his body barely felt the chill wind. It was a beautiful night. He inhaled deeply, and the scent of fresh air and wilderness invigorated him. He felt like running, like fighting… like fucking… Anything to use this well of energy that was building up inside him. Anything to use these muscles of living steel.

He supposed that he should begin analyzing his transformed state. Now that he had control over his mind and his body, he should begin cataloging the differences. He should try using his chi techniques. He should master this form, and then some day soon he’d remove the second cuff, then the third, and he would master them, too. All he needed was control.

The wind changed direction, and without a thought he was gone, racing with lightning speed and agility through the trees, wild and manic, delighting in his own skill and power. He would practice control later.

Hours later, the rising moon found Hakkai’s roommate trudging home from a night of revelations. His brunette for the night had been very surprised by his interest, as had the dark blonde next to her, who’d been curvier and wearing a far more revealing dress. But he had wanted her. Not just to continue avoiding blondes, but because she’d had a gentle smile, and a clever face, and very beautiful eyes.

He’d escorted her out into the crisp winter air, talking his sweet nothings and smoothly winning her over. “I’ll walk you home,” he’d purred to her, and had given her a roguish grin as he asked where she lived. They’d fooled around on the way to her place, and Gojyo couldn’t keep his eyes or his hands off her. With that narrow frame she had, and those nimble, unadorned fingers, that thick soft hair he kept brushing away from her face, and, as he suddenly saw by the light of her doorway, that pair of stunning deep green eyes.

He’d kissed her on the cheek, then, and bid her good night, and walked away, a horrible self loathing welling up inside him.

Sha Gojyo was not stupid. Not really. And there was only so much self denial he could let himself get away with. At some point, he had to face the undeniable truth.

That truth was that he was attracted to women that resembled his roommate.

(Then there was the blonde fetish he’d had as well, and all because of that damn… No, he wouldn’t think about that. He liked to think he’d moved past that.)

(Stupid, good for nothing, lazy-assed priest…)

He pulled his coat more closely around him as he walked. He thought about what to do, how he could fix this. A passing notion of actually approaching Hakkai and asking for advice entered his mind, but that just seemed so… pathetic. A real man would figure this out on his own.

He also thought briefly about switching to redheads… but seeing as he’d gone after blondes because of… him… and brunettes because of Hakkai, what would pursuing redheads mean? He shuddered to think.

And really, Hakkai wasn’t all that great as far as looks went. Kinda skinny, kinda pale. Nothing special about his hair. His eyes were nice, he could readily admit that, but seriously, what else was there? Not to mention the issues the guy had, understandably so, but still…

Fell in love with his sister, slept with her, Gojyo figured, then lost her to a tribe of youkai. Murdering rampage, turning youkai himself, getting his gut slashed open… suffering the hospitality of a gambling, womanizing, half-breed bachelor, being hunted, plucking out his own eye… What kind of person did trauma like that produce? Who even knew what went on in that guy’s head?

By the time Gojyo had reached home, he had pretty much convinced himself that whatever mental or physical fixation he had with the guy was unfounded and illogical. All he needed to do, he’d decided, was to actually spend some time with Hakkai, enough to remind himself what his roommate was really like. If he could replace his romanticized view of the man with reality, surely whatever obsession he had would die. So thinking, he got out his key, since he knew Hakkai always locked the door, and let himself in.

The door hadn’t been locked. Odd. Oh well… Now to find Hakkai and remind himself—

Gojyo’s train of thought came to a screeching halt as he spotted his roommate through the bedroom door. He nearly dropped his keys.

The lights were out in the apartment. There was only moonlight coming through the bedroom window, and it fell on Hakkai. A Hakkai like he’d never seen before.

This Hakkai was bare but for a pair of pants. No shirt, no shoes, no glasses even, and his bangs fell in wild abandon about his finely formed face. The moonlight made his pale skin glow white, the ugly scar on his belly clearly visible. He was standing next to the bed, looking out the window, but seemed dazed, like he was either lost in thought or thinking nothing at all. He didn’t seem to have noticed Gojyo’s arrival. A strange Hakkai-like smell was hanging in the air.

Gojyo didn’t know what to make of this. The Hakkai he knew would have been reading in bed, with the bedside lamp turned on, or perhaps have been asleep, with the bedroom door mostly shut. There would have been a covered plate of food waiting on the table for Gojyo’s return. Gojyo was very, very confused.

“Hakkai?”

The brunette head turned slowly and gracefully to look at Gojyo. The green eyes looked silver, and Gojyo noticed his three little ear cuffs glinting in the moon’s light. Hakkai looked completely spaced out.

“Gojyo? You’re home already? Hmm… welcome back.” Hakkai moved from his position, but only to take a few aimless steps. He didn’t appear self conscious about his exposed body or bothered by Gojyo’s blatant staring.

“I’m sorry I didn’t fix any dinner,” Hakkai said dreamily. “I was… distracted today.” He began to walk slowly in Gojyo’s direction, then turned towards the kitchen. He didn’t turn on any lights.

“That’s okay,” Gojyo said, still in shock. “I, uh… I already ate.” It didn’t help that he could see the way Hakkai’s nipples stood out against his chest in the chilly air.

“Oh. Alright then.”

Gojyo was starting to panic. Hakkai was acting higher than a kite, and the out-of-character behavior was having a distressing effect on him.

“Hakkai, are you okay?” Hakkai looked around at him in the darkness.

“Hm?” And mercifully, Hakkai blinked and appeared to come back to himself a bit. “Oh, yes. I’m fine, Gojyo.” He looked around, as if surprised to find himself in the kitchen, and frowned. “I think… I think I’ll go to sleep now. I’ve had an interesting day. Goodnight, Gojyo.” He walked back into the bedroom and slipped into the bed, leaving the door half open. Gojyo’s thoughts about what drug Hakkai must be on were interrupted by the sight of that slim back swaying slightly as his roommate walked away.

That, combined with the unplaceable smell in the air, was enough to send Gojyo fleeing to the shower, hoping desperately that the spraying water would cover the sounds of his shame.


(to be continued...)
To my reviewers so far: I am so glad that you are enjoying this! Most of you seem to think that my interpretation of Hakkai is top notch, and I am very pleased by this, as this is my first attempt at fanfiction. (To Velvetina, your constant reviews are a treasure and a joy! And to Vampslyr, sorry about the "stock" pun in chapter four. I always wonder whether my attempts at humor hit the mark.)
And to all of you reading, please keep reviewing! I will try to write more as fast as I can. These have been updated so quickly because I already had them written, but chapter 6 is barely begun. Stay tuned!!)