Close, But Not--Challenge #11 "smell"--PG-13
Title: Close, But Not
Author: eyesofshinigami
Pairing(s): Prelude to 585
Warnings: Bit of angst and mentions of sex
Notes: Written in roughly thirty minutes for the prompt "smell". I've missed the last couple of prompts due to exams, and vacations, and real life. :)
This was one of those nights that Hakkai cursed his demons senses more than usual. He could be in the other room and he would still be able to smell it. The stench of cigarettes mottled with alcohol, and then cloying undertones of sex and perfume that would assault him to the point of making him ill. These were the nights when Gojyo would go out until dawn was beginning to creep up the horizon before stumbling back to their little shack. It never failed to amaze Hakkai how he managed to make it the distance from the town to the house, but he supposed it was one of those drunken phenomenon that he would never understand.
He didn't know why he would stay up and wait. It didn't make any sense to him, but he knew that damnable smell would wake him up no matter if he did manage to get to sleep. He would curse under his breath, curse his friend and curse the tart that had shared her bed with him.
Hakkai wasn't sure what it was that bothered him about it, either. At first he had thought it was because Gojyo was practically flaunting something that Hakkai thought he would never have again, but that wasn't it. Then, he had briefly entertained the idea that it was because he was jealous of Gojyo's ability to procure the smell in the first place, but that was preposterous. Kanan had been the only woman he'd ever wanted anyway.
After some time and much pondering, he'd figured it out. It was that the smell existed in the first place, that it emanated from Gojyo like a tangible thing into the house they shared. Jealous of it? Maybe. Disgusted by it? Definitely. And there wasn't really anything he could do about it. That the way they moved around each other and the way their lives and become had just seemed so...normal?
Once the shock of the relevation had subsided, Hakkai had resigned himself to the fact that he would always be stuck with the smell. It would always be this horrible, hated thing that he would secretly wish he could get rid of like he got rid of anything else; swift and without mercy.
So, he found himself laying in his bed, reading a book and listening to the tick-tock of the clock on the nightstand. Soon, it was accompanied by the sound of heavy, unsteady footsteps and the slamming of a door. There it was, the familiar sound and smell of Gojyo returning home from one of his nights out, and Hakkai braced himself for it. The stench of cigarettes and the tang of alcohol, and...wait. He took a sniff, then another, then another. It has to be there...I'm sure of it, he thought, but after a moment he realized it wasn't there. No sickly sweet perfume and no thick, musky scent of sex.
And of course, he pretended that he didn't notice the warm, smug feeling consuming him. Close, but not. That was all right for now.
Author: eyesofshinigami
Pairing(s): Prelude to 585
Warnings: Bit of angst and mentions of sex
Notes: Written in roughly thirty minutes for the prompt "smell". I've missed the last couple of prompts due to exams, and vacations, and real life. :)
This was one of those nights that Hakkai cursed his demons senses more than usual. He could be in the other room and he would still be able to smell it. The stench of cigarettes mottled with alcohol, and then cloying undertones of sex and perfume that would assault him to the point of making him ill. These were the nights when Gojyo would go out until dawn was beginning to creep up the horizon before stumbling back to their little shack. It never failed to amaze Hakkai how he managed to make it the distance from the town to the house, but he supposed it was one of those drunken phenomenon that he would never understand.
He didn't know why he would stay up and wait. It didn't make any sense to him, but he knew that damnable smell would wake him up no matter if he did manage to get to sleep. He would curse under his breath, curse his friend and curse the tart that had shared her bed with him.
Hakkai wasn't sure what it was that bothered him about it, either. At first he had thought it was because Gojyo was practically flaunting something that Hakkai thought he would never have again, but that wasn't it. Then, he had briefly entertained the idea that it was because he was jealous of Gojyo's ability to procure the smell in the first place, but that was preposterous. Kanan had been the only woman he'd ever wanted anyway.
After some time and much pondering, he'd figured it out. It was that the smell existed in the first place, that it emanated from Gojyo like a tangible thing into the house they shared. Jealous of it? Maybe. Disgusted by it? Definitely. And there wasn't really anything he could do about it. That the way they moved around each other and the way their lives and become had just seemed so...normal?
Once the shock of the relevation had subsided, Hakkai had resigned himself to the fact that he would always be stuck with the smell. It would always be this horrible, hated thing that he would secretly wish he could get rid of like he got rid of anything else; swift and without mercy.
So, he found himself laying in his bed, reading a book and listening to the tick-tock of the clock on the nightstand. Soon, it was accompanied by the sound of heavy, unsteady footsteps and the slamming of a door. There it was, the familiar sound and smell of Gojyo returning home from one of his nights out, and Hakkai braced himself for it. The stench of cigarettes and the tang of alcohol, and...wait. He took a sniff, then another, then another. It has to be there...I'm sure of it, he thought, but after a moment he realized it wasn't there. No sickly sweet perfume and no thick, musky scent of sex.
And of course, he pretended that he didn't notice the warm, smug feeling consuming him. Close, but not. That was all right for now.