Challenge #68: Bloom (Hakkai and Gojyo, PG)
Title: Blossoming
Author: ersatzbeta
Warnings: m/m, I guess, if you squint hard. Mild language.
Notes: For challenge #68: Bloom. I put this aside for a week before coming back to it. (My apologies for posting so late! I waffled about joining the comm, but I'm really glad I did.) Time taken: 45 minutes, plus ten for editing.
------
Somehow, after everything that had happened, all the years that had passed, all the battles they had fought, all the miles traveled, Gojyo and Hakkai ended up back at Gojyo's house in the little no-name town, three days' travel (on foot) from Chang-An. It was the same as they had left it, really, give or take an inch of dust and a few new rodent nests. Gojyo bullied his way in, ripping down the boards they had nailed over the front door before leaving, as neither of them had expected to still have the house key when--or if--they got back.
Hakkai looked the place over with something indefinable in his eyes. Gojyo didn't get all the nuances, but he just knew, just plain knew, that Hakkai was measuring the house and finding something, maybe everything, lacking.
Gojyo was exhausted and, heedless of the dust and spiders, he dumped his gear on the bedroom floor and flopped onto the bed. He coughed a few times and settled in for a nap.
When Gojyo woke, the house was clean. Well, not exactly spic-and-span (and who was he to judge, anyway?) but Hakkai had dusted and swept and undoubtedly rained spiders all over himself getting the cobwebs down from the corners. He'd washed the windows so the sun came through clearly, instead of in murky patches like when they'd first opened the door. It didn't smell so musty now, either. Gojyo sniffed and sneezed. The chief smell of the house seemed to be soap now.
As Gojyo cautiously investigated, he didn't find Hakkai. While he wasn't really much of a worrier, he couldn't easily set aside all the things that had gone wrong on the road trip from Heaven (hell.) Gojyo looked out on the porch and Hakkai wasn't there. He wasn't in the bathroom or the kitchen but, as he passed the half-sized window over the kitchen sink, he caught a glimpse of dark hair outside. Gojyo went into the yard and tried to calm his too-fast heartbeat. Hakkai was still here. It was okay.
"Hakkai?" said Gojyo. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
Hakkai turned toward him. A strange look crossed his face.
"My apologies," said Hakkai. "I didn't think you'd be up quite this early."
"That's not an answer," said Gojyo.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Hakkai's eyes softened.
"I wanted to look at the yard," said Hakkai. "It would be nice to put in a garden, don't you think?"
Gojyo appreciated, not for the first time, how the damnedest things could come out of Hakkai's mouth.
"A garden? Seriously?" said Gojyo. "Isn't it all...weeds here?"
He kicked at a scraggly plant, forgetting his bare feet. The whatever-it-was had big sharp thorns that caught his toes. He swore.
"That one's going to die first, Hakkai," said Gojyo.
It was too late to take it back, that implicit agreement, but it didn't matter so much when Hakkai looked so pleased about it.
"Good," said Hakkai. "But we can talk about it later, after we've had something to eat and, oh excuse me."
He yawned in the middle of his thought. His palm, broad though it was, wasn't enough to completely shield his open mouth from Gojyo. Hakkai had very white, very even teeth.
"C'mon," said Gojyo. "Let's get you to bed."
He slung an arm around Hakkai's shoulders, and they leaned on each other all the way to the bedroom.
Hakkai took to gardening like...well...a gardener, a real professional. He enlisted Gojyo's help in doing things like clearing the yard and ploughing the ground and spreading manure. Though he tried to include Gojyo in the decision-making, Gojyo pretty much gave him carte blanche.
"All those plants look alike to me," said Gojyo. "You know. Green."
And, a second later, he forestalled Hakkai's next argument.
"They kind of all taste the same too," said Gojyo. "Just no rutabagas or turnips, and we'll be set. Those things are nasty."
And Hakkai smiled his polite little smile and planned the garden.
Once the garden was planted, Hakkai did most of the work taking care of it. He labored through the spring and into summer before Gojyo realized that, just maybe, it was too much to ask--assume--that Hakkai would or should keep doing all the indoor stuff and do all the outside work too. Gojyo familiarized himself with dusting and sweeping. He got used to taking out the trash and, while he couldn't quite get the dishes done to Hakkai's satisfaction, he did a damn sight better than he used to. He was obscenely proud of himself the first time he did the coffee cups and Hakkai didn't feel the need to immediately, but ever so politely, wash his again before use.
On an especially hot day in July, Gojyo decided it was the decent thing to do to bring Hakkai a glass of water while he worked in the garden.
"Yes, the sunshine is good for the plants," Hakkai had explained. "But too much of it means the plants need to be watered more frequently or they'll die."
And so Gojyo brought the water out. He went around to the side of the house and what he saw surprised him so much that he dropped the glass. It shattered, and the earth drank the water dry, leaving behind only the pieces of glass. Gojyo kept staring at Hakkai.
Hakkai didn't have his limiters on, and he was fucking gardening. He was digging his claws into the dirt like it was completely natural, completely ordinary to be a half-naked youkai looking after fuck, was that lettuce? Gojyo stepped forward and onto a strange plant that led...
"Shit," said Gojyo. "Sorry!"
He withdrew his foot from Hakkai's vine. Hakkai had extended his vines all over the garden, a fine green lacing through the rows.
"It's all right," said Hakkai. "I wasn't expecting anyone. Wait just a minute, please,"
And neat as you like, Hakkai curled his vines up and into himself again. He walked over to Gojyo, stepping over the vegetables and flowers as he went.
"I was weeding," Hakkai said, as if that explained everything.
And then Gojyo noticed something odd about one of Hakkai's vines.
"Is that a...flower bud?" said Gojyo. "You're going to bust out in flowers?"
He brought himself very close to the arm on which it lay. Not just one, but a cluster of five, growing steadily outward from the parent vine. They were the same green as the rest of it, but that didn't mean anything about what they might become when they opened.
"Well," said Hakkai. "I'm not entirely sure. I think it may have to do with all the sun I've been getting."
"But we all got lots of sun, driving around day after day through the desert," said Gojyo.
"What I mean to say," said Hakkai. "Is that this is not an unusual affair."
He gestured to himself.
"You've been gardening as a youkai?" said Gojyo.
Hakkai nodded.
"But why?"
"The danger of my going feral is over," said Hakkai. "I'm quite safe like this."
It wasn't a real answer and they both knew it.
"So you just said to yourself hey, why not?" said Gojyo.
"I," said Hakkai. "I am going to be a youkai for forever, you know. The rest of my life."
And he looked down at the ground, wiggled his sharp-nailed toes into the earth.
"Besides," said Hakkai. "It feels nice, like this. I think the plants like it too; they seem to be growing remarkably well."
And Gojyo looked around at the little green oasis Hakkai had carved out. He shook his head and smiled.
"I dropped your glass of water," said Gojyo. "Come inside and we'll have one together, yeah?"
Hakkai nodded and reached for his limiters, nestled like three shining stars in his discarded shirt. Gojyo stopped him.
"Don't bother," he said. "You said plants need sunshine right?"
Hakkai looked curiously at Gojyo.
"Well," said Gojyo. "What sort of flowers will come if they don't get light and air? Let's have that drink now."
And they entered the little house together.
------
Author: ersatzbeta
Warnings: m/m, I guess, if you squint hard. Mild language.
Notes: For challenge #68: Bloom. I put this aside for a week before coming back to it. (My apologies for posting so late! I waffled about joining the comm, but I'm really glad I did.) Time taken: 45 minutes, plus ten for editing.
------
Somehow, after everything that had happened, all the years that had passed, all the battles they had fought, all the miles traveled, Gojyo and Hakkai ended up back at Gojyo's house in the little no-name town, three days' travel (on foot) from Chang-An. It was the same as they had left it, really, give or take an inch of dust and a few new rodent nests. Gojyo bullied his way in, ripping down the boards they had nailed over the front door before leaving, as neither of them had expected to still have the house key when--or if--they got back.
Hakkai looked the place over with something indefinable in his eyes. Gojyo didn't get all the nuances, but he just knew, just plain knew, that Hakkai was measuring the house and finding something, maybe everything, lacking.
Gojyo was exhausted and, heedless of the dust and spiders, he dumped his gear on the bedroom floor and flopped onto the bed. He coughed a few times and settled in for a nap.
When Gojyo woke, the house was clean. Well, not exactly spic-and-span (and who was he to judge, anyway?) but Hakkai had dusted and swept and undoubtedly rained spiders all over himself getting the cobwebs down from the corners. He'd washed the windows so the sun came through clearly, instead of in murky patches like when they'd first opened the door. It didn't smell so musty now, either. Gojyo sniffed and sneezed. The chief smell of the house seemed to be soap now.
As Gojyo cautiously investigated, he didn't find Hakkai. While he wasn't really much of a worrier, he couldn't easily set aside all the things that had gone wrong on the road trip from Heaven (hell.) Gojyo looked out on the porch and Hakkai wasn't there. He wasn't in the bathroom or the kitchen but, as he passed the half-sized window over the kitchen sink, he caught a glimpse of dark hair outside. Gojyo went into the yard and tried to calm his too-fast heartbeat. Hakkai was still here. It was okay.
"Hakkai?" said Gojyo. "What the hell are you doing out here?"
Hakkai turned toward him. A strange look crossed his face.
"My apologies," said Hakkai. "I didn't think you'd be up quite this early."
"That's not an answer," said Gojyo.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Hakkai's eyes softened.
"I wanted to look at the yard," said Hakkai. "It would be nice to put in a garden, don't you think?"
Gojyo appreciated, not for the first time, how the damnedest things could come out of Hakkai's mouth.
"A garden? Seriously?" said Gojyo. "Isn't it all...weeds here?"
He kicked at a scraggly plant, forgetting his bare feet. The whatever-it-was had big sharp thorns that caught his toes. He swore.
"That one's going to die first, Hakkai," said Gojyo.
It was too late to take it back, that implicit agreement, but it didn't matter so much when Hakkai looked so pleased about it.
"Good," said Hakkai. "But we can talk about it later, after we've had something to eat and, oh excuse me."
He yawned in the middle of his thought. His palm, broad though it was, wasn't enough to completely shield his open mouth from Gojyo. Hakkai had very white, very even teeth.
"C'mon," said Gojyo. "Let's get you to bed."
He slung an arm around Hakkai's shoulders, and they leaned on each other all the way to the bedroom.
Hakkai took to gardening like...well...a gardener, a real professional. He enlisted Gojyo's help in doing things like clearing the yard and ploughing the ground and spreading manure. Though he tried to include Gojyo in the decision-making, Gojyo pretty much gave him carte blanche.
"All those plants look alike to me," said Gojyo. "You know. Green."
And, a second later, he forestalled Hakkai's next argument.
"They kind of all taste the same too," said Gojyo. "Just no rutabagas or turnips, and we'll be set. Those things are nasty."
And Hakkai smiled his polite little smile and planned the garden.
Once the garden was planted, Hakkai did most of the work taking care of it. He labored through the spring and into summer before Gojyo realized that, just maybe, it was too much to ask--assume--that Hakkai would or should keep doing all the indoor stuff and do all the outside work too. Gojyo familiarized himself with dusting and sweeping. He got used to taking out the trash and, while he couldn't quite get the dishes done to Hakkai's satisfaction, he did a damn sight better than he used to. He was obscenely proud of himself the first time he did the coffee cups and Hakkai didn't feel the need to immediately, but ever so politely, wash his again before use.
On an especially hot day in July, Gojyo decided it was the decent thing to do to bring Hakkai a glass of water while he worked in the garden.
"Yes, the sunshine is good for the plants," Hakkai had explained. "But too much of it means the plants need to be watered more frequently or they'll die."
And so Gojyo brought the water out. He went around to the side of the house and what he saw surprised him so much that he dropped the glass. It shattered, and the earth drank the water dry, leaving behind only the pieces of glass. Gojyo kept staring at Hakkai.
Hakkai didn't have his limiters on, and he was fucking gardening. He was digging his claws into the dirt like it was completely natural, completely ordinary to be a half-naked youkai looking after fuck, was that lettuce? Gojyo stepped forward and onto a strange plant that led...
"Shit," said Gojyo. "Sorry!"
He withdrew his foot from Hakkai's vine. Hakkai had extended his vines all over the garden, a fine green lacing through the rows.
"It's all right," said Hakkai. "I wasn't expecting anyone. Wait just a minute, please,"
And neat as you like, Hakkai curled his vines up and into himself again. He walked over to Gojyo, stepping over the vegetables and flowers as he went.
"I was weeding," Hakkai said, as if that explained everything.
And then Gojyo noticed something odd about one of Hakkai's vines.
"Is that a...flower bud?" said Gojyo. "You're going to bust out in flowers?"
He brought himself very close to the arm on which it lay. Not just one, but a cluster of five, growing steadily outward from the parent vine. They were the same green as the rest of it, but that didn't mean anything about what they might become when they opened.
"Well," said Hakkai. "I'm not entirely sure. I think it may have to do with all the sun I've been getting."
"But we all got lots of sun, driving around day after day through the desert," said Gojyo.
"What I mean to say," said Hakkai. "Is that this is not an unusual affair."
He gestured to himself.
"You've been gardening as a youkai?" said Gojyo.
Hakkai nodded.
"But why?"
"The danger of my going feral is over," said Hakkai. "I'm quite safe like this."
It wasn't a real answer and they both knew it.
"So you just said to yourself hey, why not?" said Gojyo.
"I," said Hakkai. "I am going to be a youkai for forever, you know. The rest of my life."
And he looked down at the ground, wiggled his sharp-nailed toes into the earth.
"Besides," said Hakkai. "It feels nice, like this. I think the plants like it too; they seem to be growing remarkably well."
And Gojyo looked around at the little green oasis Hakkai had carved out. He shook his head and smiled.
"I dropped your glass of water," said Gojyo. "Come inside and we'll have one together, yeah?"
Hakkai nodded and reached for his limiters, nestled like three shining stars in his discarded shirt. Gojyo stopped him.
"Don't bother," he said. "You said plants need sunshine right?"
Hakkai looked curiously at Gojyo.
"Well," said Gojyo. "What sort of flowers will come if they don't get light and air? Let's have that drink now."
And they entered the little house together.
------