Pin and Prick, Hen and Pen

Sha Gojyo grinned as he sauntered up the stairs of the random inn of the day. Today had been very profitable so far; he’d secured a date for the evening, won several games of poker, and managed to be
mostly saru-free. He wasn’t sure where the annoying monkey was right now, but if it wasn’t with him, he couldn’t care less.
Making his way down the hall toward his and Goku’s room, Gojyo glanced at Hakkai and Sanzo’s door. It would be nice to end the afternoon on a high note, and bragging to the boring half of the ikkou was always fun for him. Just as he reached for the door, he heard a conversation coming from inside. Not unusual for those two, but this one seemed somehow different from their normal chats. Gojyo leaned closer to the door.
“It may be a little prick, but it’ll probably sting for a few minutes.” he heard Sanzo say in warning. The sound of Hakkai’s light laughter followed.
“Well, from this end it doesn't look that little,” he said, chuckling, “though I am sure it will be
slightly uncomfortable. Thank you for preparing me.”
“Hn. You ready?” There were a few seconds of silence, in which Hakkai must
have nodded, because shortly after...
“ITAI! Matte, Sanzo, matte!”
“What do you mean, matte, I just started,” Sanzo said in annoyance.
Hakkai’s voice was slightly strained.
“Ano...sumimaisen, but I’m afraid you’re doing it incorrectly. If you continue to push in at such an angle, you’ll end up going too deep and doing damage.”
“Don’t blame me, I’ve never done this before.” Gojyo knew the monk was wearing the usual glare; it matched his tone of voice.
“Neither have I,” pointed out Hakkai, matching Sanzo’s annoyance with patience. “ I’ve always done it the other way, so this is a new experience for me as well. Of course, I’ve read about it, even seen it performed, but-”
“Whatever. You’re the one who wanted us to make the attempt in the first place.” A pause. “This is ridiculous.”
Shuffling noises issued from the room, giving the thoroughly shell-shocked Gojyo a jolt. He suddenly realized his mouth had been hanging open and that he’d held his for the last few minutes. Releasing it silently, he stood rooted to the spot in a stupor. Surly those two werent...
His mind snapped back to attention as the shuffling inside ceased, punctuated with a grunt of surprise from Sanzo.
“Please don’t stop, Sanzo.” Hakkai said earnestly. “It’s very important to me that we do this. You never know how much time there is left until it’s suddenly gone.”
Sanzo was quiet; the kappa could almost feel him staring at Hakkai with that unrivaled intensity he saved especially for the green-eyed youkai.
“Ch. Don’t come complaining to me when you’re sore tomorrow.”
Hakkai’s signature chuckle.
“I imagine I’ll be sore sooner than tomorrow.”
Gojyo heard Hakkai repositioning himself from somewhere near the floor.
“Ready to go again?”
“Yes, but perhaps I should just show...” the youkai’s sentence trailed off into dead
silence.
“Gojyo?”
Damn.
“Oi, kappa, if you’re coming in, do it. I’m not going to open the door for you.”
Gojyo found his voice with difficulty.
“Nah, I was just on my way to freshen up for my date.”
“No, please stay for a second, Gojyo, I want you to see how this is done.”
Gojyo blinked and walked into the room. He then promptly fell over.
“Daijoubou desu ka?”
Gojyo stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Che, what’s it look like we’re doing, knitting scarves?”
The kappa glanced to where Sanzo was kneeling beside Hakkai, the latter of which was leaning against the bed, his chest bared to allow access to a few small wounds the youkai had received in their last skirmish. Their med kit was nearby, a roll of bandages
placed neatly to the side next to a bottle of disinfectant.
Hakkai looked at Gojyo strangely, before smiling again.
“I’m teaching Sanzo how to close wounds with stitches,” he replied, holding
up a threaded needle for the kappa to see. “You never know when it’ll come in handy. If I didn’t close your wounds with my chi, you’d all have bled out before now.” The last comment was intended to be good-natured, but Sanzo still frowned.
“Teaching me? You said you’d never done it either!”
“Well, yes, I did say that, but I have watched other people before,
so...”
“That’s not the same! I won’t come to your funeral if this gets infected,” Sanzo growled, motioning to the rather puffy looking, half closed wound.
“Maa, Sanzo...”
They stopped and looked up. Gojyo was headed for the door.
“Where are you going, baka? If I have to sit through this, you’re going to as well!” Sanzo said darkly, but the kappa kept walking.
“Matte, Gojyo, it won’t take long, I promise. You need to learn this.” Red eyes shot him a dubious look. “After all, what if I’m knocked out or killed and one of the
others needs to be taken care of?”
The door opened, and Gojyo paused, still trying to reconcile his very vivid imagination with the reality of what he’d just seen. He suddenly felt very stupid. The kappa chuckled inwardly. He must have had his mind in the gutter after meeting that cute waitress at the tavern. The contentment of the afternoon creep easily back over him.
Winking at Hakkai, Gojyo grinned. “Then we’d haunt your sorry ass to make sure your spirit didn't rest until you came back and kissed our scrapes and bruises like a good mother hen."
“Hn,” Sanzo grunted, glaring at the door as it shut behind the red-haired youkai. “You’re going to let him call you that?”
“Saa, why not? If it means I get to kiss you, I’d let him call me whatever he liked.”
Sanzo smirked. "So would this make me hen-pecked?"
Hakkai shook his head as he put away the medical supplies and healed his wound with chi, deciding to let their lesson wait until another time.
"Pecked would be a bit of an understatement," he said as he pushed Sanzo onto the bed and proceeded to prove his point.