Blood & Chocolate

Chapter 5: The Healing Path

And if you come to me
And if you touch my hand
I might just slip away
I might just disappear
Who am I?
And if you think I'm worth it
And if you think it's not too late
We might start falling
If we dont try too hard
We might start falling in love
We Close Our Eyes – Susanna Hoffs


The ones with the strongest will to live are the ones that survive...

Gojyo opened one sleepy eye at the sound of his alarm clock going off. His head felt heavy from a mild hangover, the after-effect of the previous night. He groaned softly as he reached to hit the snooze button, but froze at the noticeable shift of weight next to him. A possessive arm threw itself across his middle and pulled him towards a warm soft body and his mind set into a panic. Then he remembered.

He awoke in the middle of the night from a fitful sleep to find Sanzo, clad in nothing but navy pajama pants lurking above his bed, uncertainty in his eyes. He scooted over, pulled the covers back just enough to make sure his dignity was preserved (the hanyou usually slept bareback), and allowed the monk to settle on his side facing away from him. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a few moments, and when he felt the other man's breathing even out, he slipped into a deep sleep of his own.

As carefully as he could so as not to disturb the sleeping beauty next to him, he extracted himself from the bed, clicking the alarm off. He quickly dressed, and as an afterthought, scribbled a note, leaving it on his pillow.


------


Chirrrrip! Chirrrrip!

Gojyo excused himself from the bookshop owner who was explaining the handiwork she asked him to do and pulled out his cellphone. Home. He furrowed his brow and flipped the tiny phone open. “Yeeee-llo?” There was a long silence on the other end. “Bouzu?” he asked again.

“Are you going out tonight?” Sanzo's voice inquired evenly.

“Wasn't really planning on it. Mrs. Utsumi's got me booked all afternoon here at the shop. Be dead tired by the time I get back. Everything alright?”

There was no answer, just the click of the other line going dead.


------


“Damn bat-shit crazy old hag,” Gojyo groaned as he stumbled through the doorway at dusk, a six-pack under his arm. He hung up his jacket and toed his boots off, setting them under the hooks behind the door. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck before the sound of soft footsteps caught his attention. Gojyo stood dumbstruck for a moment at the sight. Sanzo padded from the kitchenette holding a platter of various types of sushi and placed it in the center of the table. He brought his eyes to meet the redhead's, his face its usual void of emotion.

“Dinner,” he said simply. Gojyo crossed to the table, extracting the six-pack from under his arm, taking in the sight of the entire table setting. Even though it was arranged with his simple dinnerware, there was an odd elegance to it. “Here,” he said, holding out his hand for the beer. The redhead nodded absently, handing it to the blond to stow away in the refrigerator and sitting down in front of his usual place setting.

“Spend your winnings on some takeout, eh?” he asked as Sanzo joined him.

“Hn,” was the priest's only response as he poured himself a cup of sake before passing the ceramic flask to Gojyo.

They ate quietly, as Gojyo's mind swam, wondering when the priest left the house to get takeout. He would have seen him near the bookshop surely, as the best sushi joint in the village was next door. Also, the array just didn't look quite the same as it did when he went into the restaurant for lunch some days. The fish and vegetables were too vibrant against the rice, very fresh, and they were arranged quite differently than the restaurant. The centers of the rolls almost looked like delicate flowers, wrapped with the time, care, and delicacy that a busy takeout place was hardly ever afforded. When Sanzo finished his plate a few minutes after Gojyo, he pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his jean pocket.

“This was great, man,” he said with a warm smile, pulling his trusty zippo out of his own pocket and handing it to the monk. “Should order this again sometime.” He lifted from his seat and stretched before picking up the empty plates. He crossed into the kitchenette, placing the dishes in the sink for later when something caught his eye. A crumpled piece of butcher's paper lay open on the counter and something occurred to him. He looked around his tiny kitchen. A pot on the stove held the remnants of sticky rice and a makisu lay abandoned near the paper.

Sanzo hadn't ordered takeout.

He stood in the kitchen, his heart pounding in his chest so loud he was sure that they could hear it two houses down. Sanzo hadn't ordered takeout, he had made the meal with his own nimble hands. He had called him earlier to make sure he was coming home for dinner, in his own way. The hanyou felt his breath hitch as it dawned on him how scared shitless all that was left unspoken had made him.

“You just assumed,” Sanzo said quietly behind him, startling the redhead and causing him to face the blond. He stepped forward, reached out and grabbed Sanzo's wrist with fire in his eyes. Gojyo kept advancing quickly until the priest was backed against the wall next his bedroom door. A flicker of fear and doubt flashed across the monk's face, but it all too soon disappeared when the hanyou crushed his mouth against Sanzo's.

Gojyo released his grasp on the monk's wrist as he slid his hands down to Sanzo's hips, kissing the pissy priest fully and deeply, his tongue snaking its way into that delicious mouth to explore and make a memory of exactly what Sanzo tasted like: the dry sake, the sweet tang of Marlboro and fresh rain. He tried to pour every emotion, every ounce of thanks into that one kiss.

He pressed against the lithe body beneath him and hummed in satisfaction as he felt delicate nimble fingers thread through his hair to dig at his scalp. He rolled his hips once and feeling the growing pressure between both of them, dipped down slightly to grasp the priest's legs and hoist him up against the wall. The blond responded with a grunt and wrapped his legs instinctively around Gojyo's waist, neither wanting to break the searing kiss. The hanyou fumbled a hand under Sanzo's shirt to splay a warm hand against the cool skin of his back, pushing them away from the wall and guiding them into his own bedroom.

He lowered Sanzo onto his bed and crawled up to hover above the blond, pulling away only to lift his own shirt above his head and tossing it across the room before setting to work unfastening the buttons of the monk's shirt. Gojyo dipped his head and as each inch of skin became exposed, he trailed light kisses until the fabric was tossed unceremoniously next to his on the floor. He worked his way back up, stopping at a coppery nipple and teasing it with his tongue until it was a hardened nub under his mouth before sliding across and repeating the gesture on the other, eliciting a strangled cry from the blond. He pulled back slightly and smirked merrily.

“Baka,” Sanzo grunted under his breath, his cheeks flaring an embaressed shade of scarlet. Gojyo bowed his head and silenced the priest with a kiss, much softer and tender than before as he carefully popped the button on the bouzu's jeans and lowered the zipper, knowing full well by living together all these months that there wasn't anything between the constricting denim and Sanzo's skin. He felt the timid brush of fingertips near the waistband of his khakis and lifted up to give the blond better access to open them. He tugged carefully at the jeans, releasing Sanzo's cock to slap lightly against the porcelain flesh of his belly and added the denims to the pile of discarded clothing along with his own trousers.

The pale, lightly flushed skin took his breath away. It occurred somewhere in the recesses of Gojyo's mind that Sanzo was not merely pretty or handsome, simply beautiful.

“Move up a bit,” the redhead said softly, the blond complying until his head hit the pillow. Gojyo slid down the priest's body, dropping a kiss here and there reverently before settling between the bouzu's legs. He smirked when Sanzo propped himself on his elbows, quirking an eyebrow curiously. The hanyou carefully wrapped his long calloused fingers around the base of Sanzo's cock and gave the underside one long leisurely lick.

“Nnngh,” Sanzo hissed. Gojyo glanced up to see the blond's head thrown back, his mouth slacked open. Beautiful.

The redhead closed his mouth around the head, flicking his tongue across the slit to taste the salty-sweet precome before sliding his mouth over the velvet flesh of Sanzo's cock. He began a slow torturing rhythm up and down, causing the blond to writhe. He felt fingers weave into his hair again and hummed in the back of his throat. The bouzu bucked his hips and he picked up his pace, sucking gently, bobbing his head. He heard a deep rumble above him and knew the priest was close. He brought his other hand down, gently teasing the monk's balls and it was his undoing.

A broken cry sounded in the room and Sanzo came in hard spurts down Gojyo's throat and the hanyou gently licked the spent cock clean. He slid back up the monk's body and settled down next to him, propping himself on a elbow to watch the beautiful creature as he panted and came down from his high.

“Shit,” Sanzo hissed, throwing an arm across his eyes. “That was...” he trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging in the afterglow. Gojyo smiled and bent down to place a soft kiss against the bouzu's lips. As he pulled away, Sanzo lifted his arm enough to glance slyly at the hanyou. “You're not going to ask me to...” The redhead shook his head and took the dangling hand, lifting the arm away from the blond's face. He threaded their fingers together gently and made a show of examining the hand.

“You do have the most beautiful hands,” he whispered with a grin, glancing sideways at the priest.

“Tch,” Sanzo grunted as he turned on his side to face the redhead. He released his hand from Gojyo's grasp and reached between them, wrapping his long nimble fingers around Gojyo's length and began a slow lazy stroke.

Gojyo closed his eyes and felt his breath start to catch in sharp pants. His felt Sanzo pull up and roll his thumb around the tip, spreading the weeping precome and he moaned softly. He opened his crimson eyes and caught the priest watching his face intently as he milked and pulled gently at Gojyo's cock. His hips began to rock to the blond's pace of their own accord and he leaned in to kiss him. Lips parted and the hanyou allowed him to taste himself on his tongue. The monk's hand quickened his pace on the turgid flesh and soon Gojyo was spilling over Sanzo's hand as he fought to catch his breath.

“Fuck,” Gojyo whispered as he flopped onto his back. Sanzo muttered under his breath, lifted from the bed and padded into the hallway, leaving the redhead a moment of confusion. He chuckled to himself as he heard the faucet switch on in the bathroom. A minute later, the monk returned with two cigarettes and the zippo that had been left forgotten on the table. “Sankyuu,” he replied as the blond handed him a stick and the lighter. The two puffed at their smokes in silence until the bouzu spoke.

“So, what now?”

“Hm?” Gojyo responded lazily and sated.

“What now?”

“Mmmm,” Gojyo thought for a moment. “Sleep now.”

“That's it?” The hanyou glanced at the blond who was regarding him curiously. He smiled warmly and stubbed out his cigarette before lifting the blanket and quickly crawling underneath. He tugged the fabric under Sanzo and the monk followed suit.

“Usually. Sometimes there's basking.”

“Tch, baka.”

“Sleep, bouzu.”

“Hmph,” Sanzo rolled over facing away from the redhead. Gojyo curled around him and snaked his arm around the monk's middle.

“You really will bitch about anything, won't you?” he whispered into the blond's hair. He kissed the back of the golden head and added, “Sleep now, talk later.”

“Asshole,” Sanzo muttered.

“Prick,” Gojyo countered with a smile. Soon their breathing evened out and matched and they both fell into a dreamless sleep.


We're on the healing path
We're on a roller coaster ride that could never turn back
And if you love me
And if you really try to make the seconds count
Then we could close our eyes
We Close Our Eyes – Susanna Hoffs