Closed RP: Hakkai and Sanzo

[worldly_monk]

Things at Hogwarts seemed to have quieted down a little in the last week. Apparently the 'Holiday Season' madness was over. Even so, habit had brought Sanzo to a vacant classroom in an isolated part of the castle so he could get some reading done

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[polite_sinner]

((Oh, it's totally fine, don't worry about it~! ♥))

"Ah, you're right, of course," Hakkai said with a sort of resigned nod, "but I do think there is something to be said about the correlation between one's favorite sweet and his or her relative success in life." He met Sanzo's doubtful look with a slight smile, shaking his head. "No, I don't really. It's far too demanding to live life as it is without also having to worry about what color you should wear on what day just for the possibility of earning an extra bit of luck, don't you think?"

Laughing a little and giving Sanzo what might have been a vaguely knowing look, Hakkai replied, "Well, I suppose you could say that he always tries to face his problems, at least, even if he does plow his way through them, head first. It would be something to look up to, really, though knowing Goku, I imagine it inevitably ends in the need for a first-aid kit. But do you suppose that means Goku is thick-headed?"

[worldly_monk]

"I don't get a choice about the color of my clothes," Sanzo commented dryly. "Not at the temple anyway. Besides, I don't believe in luck." He paused for a moment, then added, "Although I have to admit, you win at cards more than anyone should be able to."

He gave a short laugh at Hakkai's question. "Goku is very thick-headed," he agreed. "I'm not sure anything could put a dent in that skull. I've certainly tried. But that's not what you meant, was it." He frowned down at the table, not really seeing it. "I'd say he's focused. Goku knows what he wants, and he goes after it without any regard for the consequences. And he's incredibly stubborn." Sanzo sat back with a sigh. "Of course being stubborn is nothing unique in this group."

[polite_sinner]

"You say that, but wasn't it you who won all those hands of poker on Gojyo's birthday?" Clearly Hakkai was the type to hold grudges, especially when it came to something that brought out the less than admirable aspects of his competitive personality -- although he had yet to exact his "revenge" for that, unless Sanzo's atypical party counted as a punishment. "How is Betsy, while we're on the subject of birthdays?" Hakkai grinned cheerfully.

"Goku is a very bold person, isn't he? I almost envy him sometimes. I only wish he'd use that focus a bit more on his homework, honestly." Hakkai was silent for a few seconds before smiling in agreement. "We're all dreadfully obstinate, especially since we always insist on doing things our own way, and we're all just as thick-headed. I imagine it's our strongest selling point, really, if we were to have one at all."

[worldly_monk]

"Yeah, but that was a fluke, and we both know it." Sanzo looked like he was sorry he'd mentioned card games. He didn't look any happier at the reminder of his birthday party. "Betsy is fine," he said shortly. Somehow the stuffed cow had never ended up in the wardrobe like he'd planned. He'd left her on the desk for few days, but eventually he had to make room for his research. He'd moved her to a bookshelf instead.

"Huh. Obstinate is probably an understatement. For all of us." Sanzo looked thoughtful for a moment. "So, as long as we're analyzing personalities, how would you describe Gojyo?" The thoughtful look was replaced by his customary smirk. "I think 'thick-headed' is a given."

[polite_sinner]

"Perhaps so, but you must admit that it was a rather lucky 'fluke.'" Hakkai wore a sort of not-entirely-there smile of distant amusement, but he left the topic at that. His amusement showed in full force when Sanzo showed his annoyance over the toy cow -- which was probably mean-spirited of him, Hakkai admitted, but he found the situation far too funny. "Is that so? I'm glad to hear it! Please continue taking good care of her, then, all right?"

He blinked in surprise, caught off-guard by the monk's question. (And it was probably a testament to just how much Gojyo was rubbing off on him that the first thing he thought of to say in reply was, Yes, but which head?) "Ah, that's difficult," Hakkai said carefully. Pausing to regard the ceiling, he gave Sanzo a small smile and finally said, "What about you? What do you think?" It was either an evasion or a stall tactic.

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Yes Hakkai, I'll take very good care of the stuffed toy cow. I'll make sure she eats all her pretend food, and gets plenty of imaginary water." He decided to toss the damn cow in the wardrobe when he got back to his room.

Hakkai's reaction to his question was amusing. He'd expected the attempt to dodge the question, but actually surprising Hakkai enough to get a reaction was unusual. Sanzo certainly had a list of adjectives for Gojyo, and he might even share some of them with Hakkai, but he wasn't going first. "What do I think? I think you know him better than I do. I want to hear your opinion."

[polite_sinner]

Hakkai laughed a little at Sanzo's sarcasm (and he might have been thinking about how the monk occasionally seemed to act several years younger than his actual age, despite being the older of the two of them, but if he actually was, Hakkai wasn't about to share it). "Please do! And make sure to take her to a veterinarian if she becomes ill, as well

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo listened to Hakkai's answer, and gave him a look that said he was well aware that Hakkai was still trying to sidestep the question. Then he glanced away, deciding to let him off the hook. What had he expected? Some startling revelation about Gojyo that would shed light on his own contradictory feelings? Or maybe he'd wanted to hear something that would give him an excuse to put the whole thing out of his mind and stop dwelling on it.

Sanzo was suddenly tempted to tell Hakkai about the book he'd received from Gojyo for his birthday, and see if Hakkai could explain what the hell was going on in Gojyo's brain. But that might open up a whole different line of inquiry, and lead to questions he didn't want to have to answer.

"You're probably right about that. For someone who likes to brag so much, he does sell himself short in other areas." Sanzo shrugged, and reached over to pick up his lighter. "During his Sorting, I tried to vote him into Hufflepuff. I told him he was loyal to the point of stupidity."

[polite_sinner]

Hakkai couldn't help but give Sanzo a relieved smile for letting his vague and altogether unsatisfactory answer slide -- though if he had known what was going through Sanzo's mind in regards to the topic, he most likely would've had a few less than appropriate questions of his own for the monk. (Inappropriate by Hakkai's definition, in any case.)

"That might have been a good choice for him, actually," Hakkai agreed thoughtfully. He shifted in his seat, resting an elbow on the tabletop and propping his chin on his palm. "Gryffindor probably would have been fitting, as well, now that I think about it. Courageous and brave, though occasionally his bravery does vaguely border on, ah, foolishness, but I imagine that's something we also all share."

[worldly_monk]

"Speak for yourself," Sanzo replied. But it was only a token protest. "I'm not sure there's really a point to assigning houses, considering how everyone pretty much goes wherever they want." He toyed with the lighter, flipping it on and off a few times. "I think Gojyo probably bribed the Hat to put him in Ravenclaw, just to annoy me." Sanzo looked oddly amused by the idea. "I guess we did manage to live up to the reputation of Ravenclaw as the house of the drunks though."

[polite_sinner]

"It's a rather poor reputation to live up to," Hakkai said, with the sort of distaste that was shown mostly out of habit rather than any actual annoyance. "I expect that's one of the biggest draws for our particular house, though, and I suppose I can't blame anyone for it. Free alcohol at any hour of the day or night with no strings attached, except for the risk of an awful hangover the next day. And that, as I understand it, can be cured by a spell or a potion. Even I find it tempting, from time to time." He had one time in particular in mind, but he didn't quite feel the need to go into specifics -- Sanzo probably remembered it well enough as it was.

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo gave Hakkai a sour look, uncomfortably reminded of the stupid things he'd done while drunk in the last few months. He couldn't really disagree with Hakkai's opinion though. "How tempting could it be? You don't get hangovers. You usually don't even get drunk." He stopped playing with the lighter and tossed it back onto the table. Privately he wondered how difficult it would be to find that one kind of liquor again, get Hakkai drunk, and get him sing karaoke. "Have you always had such a high tolerance for alcohol? Or did you only figure that out after you started rooming with Gojyo?"

[polite_sinner]

Hakkai held up a hand, ostensibly to stop and correct him. "I do get drunk," he said lightly, and after a second he added a little softly, "just not quite as often as you and Gojyo, I'm afraid." Smiling sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck and gave a short, embarrassed laugh. "A little of both, I suppose. I never really had much of a reason to test my limits until I started accompanying Gojyo to the bar at home every once in a while and playing poker with him and his friends. Gojyo pointed it out first, and after that point -- well, I imagine it was rather low of the two of us to get our opponents drunk while I remained relatively sober, wasn't it?"

[worldly_monk]

"Hm. Normally I'd say you should always take any advantage you can get, even if it's just to win at poker," Sanzo replied. "However, since the two of you basically did the same thing to me on my birthday, I think I'll have to agree that it is pretty low." Despite the angry words, it was obvious from his mocking tone of voice that Sanzo wasn't really that mad at them. After all, it was his own fault as much as theirs. He shouldn't have let himself get that drunk.

"I guess we're safe from birthdays for a while, unless we go home for Goku's." Sanzo drummed his fingers on the table, lost in thought for a moment. "Gojyo said something that night about trying to go home. Have you thought about it?"

[polite_sinner]

"I suppose that was dishonest of us, on both accounts," Hakkai reasoned aloud, "but in our defense, in the first place, we only used that tactic when we were running low on money for groceries -- added insurance, if you will." Hakkai probably would've won every round on his own, in any case, but not wanting to rely too heavily on his own strong suits (including the existence of what might or might not have been his abnormal luck), he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "And secondly, I suppose I ought to apologize on our behalf for that, but-- well, did you have fun, at least?"

Hakkai paused at Sanzo's question, before nodding his head once. "I have, quite a few times. I suppose I get homesick, every now and then, and I do actually miss having to do the household chores -- though I imagine I'll be saying otherwise when we return for good." He regarded Sanzo levelly before asking, "What about you? I'm sure you've considered it a few times since you've gotten here."

[worldly_monk]

"Your opponents agreed to play. They knew they were gambling," Sanzo pointed out. "Besides, it's not like you were taking money from little old ladies and orphans." He didn't answer the question about his birthday right away. It hadn't been that bad, but he wouldn't want to encourage those two in their plotting. Eventually he just shrugged. "Some."

Hakkai's idea of homesickness surprised a laugh out of him. "Only you would be missing doing the chores." Truthfully, Sanzo wasn't missing his responsibilities. Except maybe for one. "Now and then," he answered. "But I'm not in hurry. And I need to finish what I was sent here to do."