Operation Sanzo Gets a Full Body Wax.

[perverted_kappa]

It was a testament to just how damned bored Gojyo had been that he'd made only a nominal protest when Hakkai approached him about assisting Sanzo. Normally there would've been more heat behind his refusal, and the names he'd called Sanzo would have been rather more creatively obscene, but he simply hadn't felt like wasting that much energy on the

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[worldly_monk]

((nice subject XD))

So far everything was going just as planned, and Sanzo was trying not to tense up in anticipation of something going wrong. They had practiced quite a bit (even Gojyo, amazingly enough), so they should be able to do this. As the spell progressed, Sanzo was simultaneously concentrating on the wand movements, mentally reviewing order of the candles specified by the spell, and listening to make sure that they were all saying their parts correctly.

Realizing he wasn't required to do anything for the next few moments, Sanzo glanced around, checking to make sure they hadn't missed anything yet. The intricate combinations of movements, candles and words were very different than the concentration and sheer force of will it took to manipulate the Maten Sutra. He took a deep breath and got ready to do the next section.

[polite_sinner]

Hakkai, for his part, was performing his own assigned role with ease -- which wasn't all that surprising, given how much they had practiced the ritual before actually attempting to perform it. None of them wanted to encounter the after effects of a spell gone awry, and Hakkai felt he could do without having to sweep up reddish-orange and black fur if one of the other two happened to be turned into a tiger (again, as the case may be).

As another drop of wax rolled down the candle he held, he turned it in his hands to allow the wax to pass by his finger tips. This was all taking a bit more concentration than he had initially assumed now that they were actually attempting the spell, and he might have inwardly cringed at the thought of making even a single mistake -- after all, they didn't have the room for error that the "rehearsals" had afforded them. Fortunately however, things seemed to be going smoothly, and he tried not to allow himself to think about the possible consequences for if things didn't go as planned.

[perverted_kappa]

During the brief interval between incantations, Gojyo dropped his spent cigarette to the floor and ground it out with a heel. Producing a fresh one, he lit it off his candle -- strange, how it immediately put him in mind of something, or someone; the memory was vague, as though he'd dreamt it long ago.

He enjoyed his cigarette while pondering the not-memory, and in his distraction failed to notice the state of his candle until it was too late. Hissing a curse, he deftly transferred the candle to his other hand and sucked on his burnt finger. Fucking wax. Women were obviously insane to willingly subject themselves to it.

Despite there being no open doors or windows, a faint, cool breeze swept through the room, extinguishing several candles in a row near where Sanzo and Gojyo stood. The candles relit a moment later as if nothing had happened.

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo was beginning to think they might be able to get through this without any screw-ups. Everything had gone perfectly so far.

He thought he felt something move by him, but he ignored it. They were getting near the end of the spell, and he needed to concentrate on the object he wanted to find. He had a good feeling about this, and he was positive the spell was going to work. He smiled at the thought of finally locating his master's sutra.

He said the final phrase and finished the last wand movement with a bit of a flourish.

[worldly_monk]

This was just getting ridiculous. "Why do you both keep asking about me!? Yes, I'm getting enough sleep. Maybe I don't eat as well as I should, but that's nothing new. I'm fine!" Shocked by his outburst, Sanzo blinked at them for a second before looking down in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be yelling. You're only trying to help. But really, I'm okay."

Hakkai's suggestion of a reversal spell was such an obvious answer, Sanzo wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it before. "I think I took the book back to the library, but I wrote a lot of them down." He reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a couple of hand-written pages. "If there's not something on here, I'm sure there's something in the notes back in my room."

Gojyo's sudden hesitation was worrying. What if there was something controlling his behavior in addition to changing it? "Gojyo, it's okay. We're not trying to hurt you." Sanzo spoke quietly, and looked over at Hakkai for support.

[polite_sinner]

"It's all right, Gojyo," Hakkai said after Sanzo's uncharacteristically helpful prompt, not quite matter-of-factly, but certainly in a way that brooked no argument. "This time will be different. We've had a bit more practice -- and I'll be the one doing the spell this time, not Sanzo." If he reversed the effects on one of them, Hakkai reasoned, he supposed he could get help on reversing the effects on the other. He gave them both a reassuring smile, but after a second, he shrugged and amended lightly, "This is assuming that the spell has been copied faithfully, of course, ah ha ha

[perverted_kappa]

Sanzo's yelling gave Gojyo hope that whatever had gone wrong was fixed and no one would have to worry about reversal spells. That hope was promptly and cruelly dashed by the apology. Crap.

And then Hakkai had to go and be all ominous. Double crap.

"Can you even read his handwriting? It's messy," Gojyo said anxiously, looking over Hakkai's shoulder at the notes.

"It's not me I'm worried about. I think it'd be kinda frightening if a quarter-tonne wild animal with gigantic sharp teeth and claws, jaws capable of crushing skulls decided to make a meal of me." He shuddered, suddenly grateful that he'd been turned back before anything more gruesome than crotch-sniffing had occurred. (A part of his mind that sounded disturbingly like Hakkai wondered if it would have counted as cannibalism.)

"Um, and the spell can't be intended for me, anyway... I hate to break it to you, Sanzo, but something's wrong with you." Gojyo offered an apologetic smile. "I think we all need a drink."

[worldly_monk]

"Since we don't know exactly what happened, I'm not sure how to choose the best spell for the situation." Sanzo looked thoughtful as he considered the spells. "Unless there's one specifically for accidental magical personality changes, but I don't remember one." He looked at Hakkai curiously. "Why are you going to be the one to cast the reversal spell?" A moment later he gave a self-conscious laugh. "I guess my track record with those spells isn't the best."

Sanzo had to hide a smile at Gojyo's description of tigers, considering that Gojyo-the-tiger hadn't exactly behaved like a wild animal at the time. More like a house cat... a very large house cat. He looked up in surprise when Gojyo suggested using the reversal spell on him.

"Me? There's nothing wrong with me." Was this another delaying tactic? If so, maybe the suggestion of a drink would work in their favor. A little alcohol might make Gojyo less resistant to the idea of the spell. "But you're probably right about the drink. Should we go back to Ravenclaw?"

[polite_sinner]

The strange look given to him by Sanzo went largely unnoticed; if he had seen it, he probably would have thought something along the lines of how the situation was quite like the pot calling the kettle black, though he would have kept any comments to himself, of course.

"Ah, it's no problem," Hakkai replied, though he was distracted by looking over the new spells that Sanzo had handed to him. When Gojyo cleared his throat, he looked up and blinked, not quite sure what he was getting their attention for. After he asked Sanzo to borrow his room, it finally registered with him that this new Gojyo surely would have minded their presence while he changed (not that the old Gojyo was an exhibitionist -- . . . well not really, anyway). He offered an embarrassed, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what I was thinking."

[perverted_kappa]

((Sorry for the novel. XD))

"Oh, don't worry about it," Gojyo said, happy to be the one to leave, since he didn't want to inconvenience either of them more than he already had. "And thanks, Sanzo."

He found Sanzo's room to be the same as it ever was, closer to a cell than anything else. Before undressing, he went to the cluttered desk and turned the plushie cow so it was facing away from him. In doing so, he accidentally knocked a precariously balanced spell book to the floor, and several pages of notes fluttered down after it. "Darn it," Gojyo muttered, gathering them all up and taking the liberty of tidying Sanzo's desk a little.

A book open to a rather vividly illustrated page caught his attention, and by the time he realised what he was staring at, it was too late. Some things, once seen, could never be unseen. In his effort to back away from the desk as quickly as possible he nearly tripped, and it suddenly registered that the men in the illustration had been drawn over, one given long red hair, and the other blond hair. There

[worldly_monk]

As soon as Gojyo left the room, Sanzo stood up and took the page over to show Hakkai. "I think I found something. Look here, it mentions possible side effects of a miscast spell." Sanzo frowned, still not certain where they had managed to mess up the spell, but it was obvious from Gojyo's new personality that they had screwed something up somewhere. It was probably all his fault. He shouldn't have let Hakkai and Gojyo participate in such a dangerous spell

[polite_sinner]

((OoC: . . . . oh what, ah ha ha, when did this entry get tagged? XDD))

Asking for permission with a silent glance, Hakkai took the page from Sanzo when he held it out to him, relieved that one of them had managed to find something useful, and that Sanzo had bothered being so paranoid thorough as to catalogue all of these reversal spells in the first place. Looking the spell over, he nodded a little decisively. "How fortunate. It seems like this might be just the sort of thing we're looking for," he said a little brightly, feeling his mood returning a little, now that he didn't quite have a sense of impending doom. "That was very good thinking of you to have taken all of these notes, Sanzo