((I was kidding, no worries! ;) And if Hakkai wants to practise his healing ki thingy on Gojyo, feel free. Otherwise he can play nurse for a few weeks? ;D ))
"I'm fine. It's nothing." Gojyo's fairly high pain tolerance is all that kept him from trying to smack Hakkai's hands away. It hurt, of course, but he'd suffered far worse injuries before without complaint. Whining over a sprained ankle would be on par with crying over a scraped knee, as far as he was concerned. (Though if he thought he could make Sanzo or Hakkai feel at all guilty by playing up how much it hurt, he would have).
He pried off the ridiculous heels before taking Hakkai's hand and getting up, his injured ankle unable to support his weight without throbbing painfully, which caused him to limp despite his previous assertion that it was nothing. "I can move it, but I'd rather not," he said, returning to the bed. "If you two think you're going to force me to finish the room another time, you can forget it. I'll finish it now." He remained sitting up, and carefully stretched out his legs with a wince. "Then I'll take a nice, long, hot bath, and sleep for a few days..."
As he eyed Sanzo, he slowly smiled. "Why don't you help me? You can wash my back. It's the least you could do after this stupid 'punishment'. You could come too, Hakkai. I bet neither of you have seen the Prefects' bathroom yet."
". . . why were you in the Prefects'--?" Hakkai stopped abruptly, blinked, and shook his head. "Nevermind," he said. "I don't think I'll ask."
He took the bandages when Sanzo handed them over. "No, I think you're done cleaning today, although I suppose, in this case, it's Sanzo who gets the last word." Hakkai was about to start wrapping Gojyo's foot when he paused to consider something. Setting the bandages aside, he gently placed a hand on Gojyo's ankle and warned, "I'm going to try to heal it," and hope nothing would go wrong, "so, ah, please try to stay still for a moment?" Up until now, the most serious things Hakkai had ever healed were cuts and knicks and wounded prides -- sprained ankles were an entirely new territory for him.
Hakkai closed his eyes and concentrated on the injury. His hand glowed a faint sort of yellowish green as energy flowed to the spot, leaving a strange, but not unpleasant, warm and tingling sensation at the tips of his fingers. It didn't seem as though the injury was taking to the ki, at first, which forced Hakkai to focus more of his own energy into healing the torn ligaments; after that, the energy flowed more easily.
Several seconds passed before he slowly pulled his hand away, bracing himself against the side of the bed when a brief dizzy spell threatened to topple him over. He put a hand to his forehead, feeling much more drained than he had expected himself to -- and it might have showed, in the way his shoulders sagged, the way his head drooped, or the way his hands slightly shook. If even such a relatively minor injury could take this much out of him, he didn't think he would ever be able to heal anything more serious than a papercut -- clearly this just meant that he needed far more practice. Blinking a few times and regaining his composure, he smiled a little and asked, "Ah, does it feel any better? Or should I still bandage it?"
"How did you get into the Prefects' bathroom?" Sanzo asked, with obvious skepticism. Then he shrugged. "I think you've done enough damage. As far as I'm concerned we can declare the stupid dare officially over."
His eyes widened as he watched Hakkai focus his ki and channel it into Gojyo's injured ankle. He could feel the energy flowing out of Hakkai at an alarming rate, and he wasn't surprised when he swayed slightly as he finished. Sanzo quickly put one arm behind Hakkai to support him, resting his hand lightly on Hakkai's back. "That was impressive, but I think you overdid it." He left his arm there until he was certain Hakkai wasn't going to fall over, then he stepped away and dragged a chair over, just in case.
Sanzo picked up the make-shift ice pack and tossed it at Gojyo. "A hot bath actually sounds good, since my ribs are suddenly very sore for some reason."
Gojyo rolled his eyes when they both questioned him. "It isn't hard to get passwords around here. Especially when the majority of the students and faculty're drunks. But I suppose you two wouldn't know that, since neither of you get out and socialise."
His muscles seemed to tense up on their own at the beginning of Hakkai's experiment, and he bit back a pained gasp when it felt as though something within his ankle physically shifted, momentarily worsening the pain, and then there was nothing but a dull burning sensation, numbing the area. It put him in mind of what it felt like to summon his shakujou, but that familiarity was coupled with something else, a completely foreign thrum of energy that he thought must be unique to Hakkai. Knowing that Hakkai was literally putting some of himself into him inspired all kinds of dirty thoughts, which certainly weren't hindered by the fact the healing also felt damned good.
"That was cool." Since Hakkai looked like he might fall over at any moment, Gojyo made room for him on the bed in case he did just that. "...You're making me nervous. Sit down before you fall down."
He undid the garter belt and tugged off the fishnet stockings with their awful pink bows, then drew his knees up, examining his previously injured ankle. The swelling and pain were gone, and there was no sign of bruising. It looked as if it had never been damaged in the first place. "Hey, you healed it! Good as new. Thanks." He smiled as he glanced back up at Hakkai. "Er, do you need a nap? You look like you could use one. You won't fall asleep in the bath, will you? Me and Sanzo'd fight over who gets to give you mouth-to-mouth if you drown yourself."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he teased lightly, though he was vaguely pleased by the compliments. Hakkai smiled when Sanzo steadied him, waving a hand when the two of them voiced their concerns. "Please don't worry, I'll be--" His knees suddenly gave out, and he half sat, half fell down into the chair that Sanzo had pulled over. Laughing sheepishly, he gave them an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I'll be fine, but perhaps I did overdo it a little. I'm just happy that I was able to heal Gojyo's ankle properly."
Hakkai paused at the mention of taking a nap and slowly nodded. "That might be a good idea, actually," he said quietly, and he still retained his embarrassed and apologetic demeanor. "I wouldn't want you two to worry, after all. Ah, please feel free to go ahead without me, though, if you'd like."
"Is that the first time you've tried to heal a sprain like that?" Sanzo was still keeping an eye on Hakkai, just to make sure he didn't suddenly pass out and fall off the chair. "You should probably get something to eat. You used up a lot of energy."
Sanzo shifted to lean against the bed. In addition to the sore ribs, his neck and back were still stiff from spending so much time sitting at the table in the library. He wondered how big the Prefect's bath was. Having a private bath was one of the few things he actually missed from the temple. If Gojyo really did know the password, maybe he should take him up on the offer.
"Yeah, you want anything? I can hunt down a house-elf for you before my bath." He doubted that Sanzo would really want to be anywhere near him without Hakkai also being present, least of all naked in a bath, so Gojyo offered him an easy out. "Well, maybe another time. Prefects' bathroom's always there. It's not much fun using it alone," he said, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Sanzo.
Not bothering to gather up the discarded bits of the maid costume, he slid off the bed and stood, offering Hakkai a hand. "First things first. Let's get you to bed. And if I catch you trying to re-clean our room tonight," he added, smirking, "I'll have to chain you to your bed."
He nodded at Sanzo's question and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes, actually, this is the first time I've healed anything worse than a bump or a cut." He smiled at them reassuringly, as was his usual reaction to anyone expressing any sort of concern over him. "I think I just need a little rest. Please, don't let me keep you two back, though."
Hakkai stood without help, though after a bit of teetering, he was obliged to hold on to Gojyo's shoulder to balance himself -- which induced an awkward laugh when his hand touched bare skin. A vaguely guilty and amused look crossed his face, betraying the fact that he had been planning to reorganize the room if Gojyo and Sanzo were both away. "Ha ha, it seems you've caught me." He shrugged, as though admitting defeat, and added, "I suppose you make a persuasive argument against it, though. . ." He silently decided he would just have to leave the cleaning for later.
The look in Gojyo's eyes reminded Sanzo that it probably wasn't a good idea for him to be alone with Gojyo. He told himself yet again that it was better to just avoid the temptation, and reluctantly gave up the idea of a long, hot bath. "Cleaning the room can wait, Hakkai. There's no point in healing others if you end up injuring yourself in the process." He picked up the discarded heels and dropped them in the trash can. "I'm assuming you didn't want to keep those," he said to Gojyo.
As Hakkai and Gojyo were getting ready to leave, Sanzo remembered one other thing. He opened the desk drawer and pulled out one last item that he'd ordered via owl. "Oi, kappa." When Gojyo looked over, Sanzo tossed him a carton of Hi-Lites. It had been a last minute impulse when he'd ordered more cigarettes for himself, and he wasn't going to question his own motives any closer than that. "Now you can stop stealing mine."
When he felt the hand on his shoulder, Gojyo automatically moved to support Hakkai, putting an arm loose around Hakkai's waist as he helped guide his roommate toward the door. If he was at all concerned about the possibility of someone besides Sanzo seeing him not only in that ridiculous outfit, but with his arm around another guy, it didn't show.
It was late enough that they were unlikely to run into anyone in the hallway, at least. (Or no one sober, at any rate.)
"You can keep the outfit, Sanzo. I'll drop the rest of it off to you later," he snickered, planning to do exactly that. With his free hand he easily caught the item Sanzo had thrown, stared at it in disbelief for several moments, then suddenly he was grinning and looking like he'd won the lottery. "Hey, I don't have to pay for this, do I? Thanks." He wasn't sure why, but it almost felt like a peace offering.
Rather than resist, Hakkai allowed Gojyo to lead him, too tired to even put on a show of reluctance. Really, it was fortunate that he hadn't lost consciousness, given how exhausted he felt. Almost everything about his body language right then -- his vaguely hunched posture, his bowed head, his uncertain steps -- screamed, "I deeply apologize for causing any trouble, and I'll be sure to make it up to you at some later date, possibly by baking fudge cookies." Hopefully the two of them understood.
When Gojyo caught the carton of cigarettes, Hakkai gave Sanzo what might have been a slightly exasperated look, were it not for a faint smile. "Encouraging bad habits, I see," he said lightly. He sighed and shook his head, holding out an arm for Hakuryu to perch there. "I suppose you two support one another in that respect."
"Tch. No you don't have to pay for them." Sanzo rolled his eyes at Hakkai's apologetic demeanor and nodded towards the door. "You'd better get him back to your room before he does pass out. And you can return the outfit right into the trash can," he added.
"I'm fine. It's nothing." Gojyo's fairly high pain tolerance is all that kept him from trying to smack Hakkai's hands away. It hurt, of course, but he'd suffered far worse injuries before without complaint. Whining over a sprained ankle would be on par with crying over a scraped knee, as far as he was concerned. (Though if he thought he could make Sanzo or Hakkai feel at all guilty by playing up how much it hurt, he would have).
He pried off the ridiculous heels before taking Hakkai's hand and getting up, his injured ankle unable to support his weight without throbbing painfully, which caused him to limp despite his previous assertion that it was nothing. "I can move it, but I'd rather not," he said, returning to the bed. "If you two think you're going to force me to finish the room another time, you can forget it. I'll finish it now." He remained sitting up, and carefully stretched out his legs with a wince. "Then I'll take a nice, long, hot bath, and sleep for a few days..."
As he eyed Sanzo, he slowly smiled. "Why don't you help me? You can wash my back. It's the least you could do after this stupid 'punishment'. You could come too, Hakkai. I bet neither of you have seen the Prefects' bathroom yet."
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He took the bandages when Sanzo handed them over. "No, I think you're done cleaning today, although I suppose, in this case, it's Sanzo who gets the last word." Hakkai was about to start wrapping Gojyo's foot when he paused to consider something. Setting the bandages aside, he gently placed a hand on Gojyo's ankle and warned, "I'm going to try to heal it," and hope nothing would go wrong, "so, ah, please try to stay still for a moment?" Up until now, the most serious things Hakkai had ever healed were cuts and knicks and wounded prides -- sprained ankles were an entirely new territory for him.
Hakkai closed his eyes and concentrated on the injury. His hand glowed a faint sort of yellowish green as energy flowed to the spot, leaving a strange, but not unpleasant, warm and tingling sensation at the tips of his fingers. It didn't seem as though the injury was taking to the ki, at first, which forced Hakkai to focus more of his own energy into healing the torn ligaments; after that, the energy flowed more easily.
Several seconds passed before he slowly pulled his hand away, bracing himself against the side of the bed when a brief dizzy spell threatened to topple him over. He put a hand to his forehead, feeling much more drained than he had expected himself to -- and it might have showed, in the way his shoulders sagged, the way his head drooped, or the way his hands slightly shook. If even such a relatively minor injury could take this much out of him, he didn't think he would ever be able to heal anything more serious than a papercut -- clearly this just meant that he needed far more practice. Blinking a few times and regaining his composure, he smiled a little and asked, "Ah, does it feel any better? Or should I still bandage it?"
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His eyes widened as he watched Hakkai focus his ki and channel it into Gojyo's injured ankle. He could feel the energy flowing out of Hakkai at an alarming rate, and he wasn't surprised when he swayed slightly as he finished. Sanzo quickly put one arm behind Hakkai to support him, resting his hand lightly on Hakkai's back. "That was impressive, but I think you overdid it." He left his arm there until he was certain Hakkai wasn't going to fall over, then he stepped away and dragged a chair over, just in case.
Sanzo picked up the make-shift ice pack and tossed it at Gojyo. "A hot bath actually sounds good, since my ribs are suddenly very sore for some reason."
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His muscles seemed to tense up on their own at the beginning of Hakkai's experiment, and he bit back a pained gasp when it felt as though something within his ankle physically shifted, momentarily worsening the pain, and then there was nothing but a dull burning sensation, numbing the area. It put him in mind of what it felt like to summon his shakujou, but that familiarity was coupled with something else, a completely foreign thrum of energy that he thought must be unique to Hakkai. Knowing that Hakkai was literally putting some of himself into him inspired all kinds of dirty thoughts, which certainly weren't hindered by the fact the healing also felt damned good.
"That was cool." Since Hakkai looked like he might fall over at any moment, Gojyo made room for him on the bed in case he did just that. "...You're making me nervous. Sit down before you fall down."
He undid the garter belt and tugged off the fishnet stockings with their awful pink bows, then drew his knees up, examining his previously injured ankle. The swelling and pain were gone, and there was no sign of bruising. It looked as if it had never been damaged in the first place. "Hey, you healed it! Good as new. Thanks." He smiled as he glanced back up at Hakkai. "Er, do you need a nap? You look like you could use one. You won't fall asleep in the bath, will you? Me and Sanzo'd fight over who gets to give you mouth-to-mouth if you drown yourself."
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Hakkai paused at the mention of taking a nap and slowly nodded. "That might be a good idea, actually," he said quietly, and he still retained his embarrassed and apologetic demeanor. "I wouldn't want you two to worry, after all. Ah, please feel free to go ahead without me, though, if you'd like."
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Sanzo shifted to lean against the bed. In addition to the sore ribs, his neck and back were still stiff from spending so much time sitting at the table in the library. He wondered how big the Prefect's bath was. Having a private bath was one of the few things he actually missed from the temple. If Gojyo really did know the password, maybe he should take him up on the offer.
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Not bothering to gather up the discarded bits of the maid costume, he slid off the bed and stood, offering Hakkai a hand. "First things first. Let's get you to bed. And if I catch you trying to re-clean our room tonight," he added, smirking, "I'll have to chain you to your bed."
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Hakkai stood without help, though after a bit of teetering, he was obliged to hold on to Gojyo's shoulder to balance himself -- which induced an awkward laugh when his hand touched bare skin. A vaguely guilty and amused look crossed his face, betraying the fact that he had been planning to reorganize the room if Gojyo and Sanzo were both away. "Ha ha, it seems you've caught me." He shrugged, as though admitting defeat, and added, "I suppose you make a persuasive argument against it, though. . ." He silently decided he would just have to leave the cleaning for later.
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As Hakkai and Gojyo were getting ready to leave, Sanzo remembered one other thing. He opened the desk drawer and pulled out one last item that he'd ordered via owl. "Oi, kappa." When Gojyo looked over, Sanzo tossed him a carton of Hi-Lites. It had been a last minute impulse when he'd ordered more cigarettes for himself, and he wasn't going to question his own motives any closer than that. "Now you can stop stealing mine."
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It was late enough that they were unlikely to run into anyone in the hallway, at least. (Or no one sober, at any rate.)
"You can keep the outfit, Sanzo. I'll drop the rest of it off to you later," he snickered, planning to do exactly that. With his free hand he easily caught the item Sanzo had thrown, stared at it in disbelief for several moments, then suddenly he was grinning and looking like he'd won the lottery. "Hey, I don't have to pay for this, do I? Thanks." He wasn't sure why, but it almost felt like a peace offering.
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When Gojyo caught the carton of cigarettes, Hakkai gave Sanzo what might have been a slightly exasperated look, were it not for a faint smile. "Encouraging bad habits, I see," he said lightly. He sighed and shook his head, holding out an arm for Hakuryu to perch there. "I suppose you two support one another in that respect."
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