TITLE: Brushstrokes
AUTHOR: Eyes of Shinigami
PAIRING: 39. Natch.
TIMELINE: Post-Journey
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: M/M, language, post-journey speculation.
SUMMARY: Sanzo gets to see up close just where Goku’s been disappearing to, and gets to experience it in full. Written for Kispexi2 over on LJ
DISCLAIMER: I own not Saiyuki. Of this I am sure.

~~*~~

Sanzo was beyond annoyed at this point. This had been the latest of many days where Goku would disappear in the morning and not reappear until well after night had set in. This also meant that the other man was too worn-out for anything other than a sweet goodnight kiss before drifting off into slumber. And now, the priest was tired of it. Leaving him alone in the temple was one thing. Not coming back until it was time to eat was another, but denying him sex? That was a no-no, and the boy was going to pay dearly.

The blond sat up in bed that night, watching out the window for when he would see his lover coming up the path to the temple. He had smoked nearly a half a pack of cigarettes, frowning hard at the overflowing ash tray on the windowsill. It seemed that Goku was running later than usual, if the steadily ticking clock on the wall was any indication. While he was not so insecure to think that this golden-eyed lover was seeking others elsewhere, it still pissed him off to no end. How dare the monkey think for one second that he could make him wait? That thought made him frown harder, violet eyes searching the path once more.

“Sanzo?” a tentative voiced asked suddenly, startling the monk enough that his hand tipped over the ashtray. An amused smile played on the corners of Goku’s mouth at his lover’s flustered state. “Why are you still up?”

If such a thing were possible, the monk frowned even harder as he dusted off the blankets to the best of his ability. He’d just get the brunet to clean it up later, and it would serve him right. “You know, I really don’t know. Hmmph. You should have more consideration for other people, you selfish monkey.” He knew his words were more callous than he intended, but he could not let such behavior go unpunished.

To the monk’s surprise, the boy just shrugged and readjusted his grip on the large, brown-paper covered package under his arm. The action drew Sanzo’s attention to it, as he cocked an eyebrow in response. Again, Goku just shrugged and turned to leave the room without any argument. “Okay then.”

Damn monkey. He was really going to pay for this later on. Swallowing his pride, Sanzo let out a sigh. “Whatever. Now, what the hell is that? Would that be the reason that you’re sneaking in so late?” The words were softer this time, and the blond hoped that they hadn’t sounded as curious out loud as they did in his head.

Goku’s eyes lit up and a wide smile broke out onto his face. “Oh! You almost made me forget! Here, I’ll show you!” he chattered, noisily ripping the paper off of the package and tossing it carelessly aside. Soon, a very large blank canvas was revealed, the boy beaming at his lover like that was supposed to be the answer to his question.

“Okay, so what?”

It was Goku’s turn to sigh, more out of exasperation than anything else. “It’s a canvas, Sanzo. I went and bought it today while I was out. Because…” his words trailed off, eyes darting to the floor as though he were nervous.

Sanzo waited for all of three seconds before the need to wield the fan began to itch in his hands. Instead, he prompted his lover. “Because what? That doesn’t tell me a whole lot. I’m not a mind-reader.” He didn’t want to admit that he was dying to know whether or not this was the reason Goku had been spending so much time away from the temple, and the monkey’s nervousness was not doing anything to assuage the situation at all. Of course, that was a feeling he thought was better left kept to himself.

Scuffing the floor with his bare foot, the brunet still refused to look him in the face. “Because…I wanted to paint you…” he mumbled, so low that Sanzo very nearly missed the softly spoken words. A brilliant blush spilled out across Goku’s cheeks, screwing his eyes shut as though waiting for a blow from the fan.

At first, Sanzo was momentarily stunned, glad that the boy was looking away so he missed the outbreak of expression on the blond’s face. Goku? Painting? That sort of thing required patience and diligence, neither of which were Goku’s strong points when it came to things other than eating or killing demons. The momentary shock wore away and Sanzo could only shake his head. “And where, pray tell, did you learn how to do that?”

With his face still bright red, Goku finally lifted his eyes to meet those of his lover. In a careful voice, he spoke, “I’ve…been taking lessons. Gojyo said I needed a hobby, and I thought it would be fun to try. I’ve done a couple…but I wanted to get good enough so I could paint you.” So innocently spoken, the clear need for approval lay spread thinly beneath the surface of his words.

Aha. Mystery solved. And yet, Sanzo couldn’t find it in him to stay mad at the boy for such an action. Not that he would tell him such a thing. “So you’ve got a hobby other than eating and fucking…good for you. Now, why would you want to paint me?” he asked, words lacking their earlier bite. He was still not the type to offer words of comfort and sappy sweet nothings, but they’d been together long enough to recognize the sentiment for what it was. The smile that the words brought were enough to let him know that Goku had gotten the message.

“Well, my teacher said you paint what you know, draw what you like. It makes it easier to accomplish what you’re trying to capture. And come on, Sanzo…what do I know better than you?”

“Meatbuns come to mind. Go paint one of those.”

The way Goku’s expression scrunched up in displeasure was undeniably adorable. “Sanzo, I’m trying to be serious here! Please?” Large golden eyes wobbled expectantly at him as he clutched at the canvas as though it were a lifeline. No matter how old Goku got, or how deep his voice became, there was nothing Sanzo could do to make him lose that annoying whining habit of his.

And there was nothing he could do stop how susceptible he was to it either.“Fine, you stupid monkey. You’d better make this worth my time.” One violet eye peeked open to take in the expression of joy that crossed his younger lover’s face, wondering as Goku offered a deep kiss in thanks just what the hell he was getting himself into.-

~~*~~

He was going to kill the monkey if it was the last thing he did. Four hours later found him stuck in the same position, his muscles beginning to cramp from the lack of motion. Every time he dozed off or moved slightly, he was sharply reprimanded, and once or twice he had to dodge a flying pencil or eraser while still maintaining his pose.

“Sanzo! Stop moving! You’re going to ruin it!”

“Just hurry the fuck up, monkey!” he barked back, frowning hard at his lover when he went back to his sketch. He was laying spread out on his back, clad only in his jeans with his arms folded lightly above his head. Goku had spent nearly an hour positioning him just right, voicing his displeasure when Sanzo argued or disagreed. Stupid monkey.

Though, the monk couldn’t deny how sexy Goku looked while he worked. His golden eyes were alight with determination, his brow creased hard in concentration as he sketched and erased. Occasionally, his mouth would twitch in a frown or would curve slightly in a smile. It was nice to see his lover so focused.

And incredibly arousing.

A minute twitch of his hips was not enough to stop the flood of heat coursing through his body, only making it that much worse when Goku’s eyes drifted towards his jeans. “Problems, Sanzo?” He smirked at the blond, going back to his picture before the other man had a chance to answer.

A prominent vein on Sanzo’s forehead began to throb at the impudence of his lover. The very nerve! “You wish, monkey.”

“Oh, but I do…” purred Goku, sending another shockwave of pleasure down his spine and straight to his groin. “Since you’ve been so good during all of this…”

Sanzo frowned harder, but his body definitely seemed to like the not-so-subtle hints that Goku was sending. All he wanted now was the boy to hurry up so he could move or something. “Are you almost done?”

Goku nodded at that, adding one final pencil stroke before another wide grin spread out across his face. He looked genuinely pleased with himself, his eyes glistening with pride when he turned towards Sanzo. “Okay…I’m done…for now.” At the blond’s questioning look, his smirk turned sinister. “I can’t show it to you…not until it’s completely done. It‘s a surprise.”

He let out a frustrated sigh at that, but knew that it wasn’t worth arguing with monkey logic; he wouldn’t win anyway. “Whatever. Just come to bed then.” He pulled his lover into the bed with him, deciding to ignore the picture for the time being. There were more pleasurable things to think about at the moment.

~~*~~

If Sanzo has thought Goku going to his lessons was annoying, it had nothing on the wait to see that damned picture that the monkey was painting. He would have never admitted it aloud, but the anticipation was driving him up the wall. Not only now was the boy disappearing during the day, but he would shut himself up in the room he used to sleep in before the journey for hours. Presumably it meant that he was on his way to finishing the painting, but it was taking just too damn long. It was eating into his time with the monkey.

Finally, the blond got fed up with it and decided that it was time to put an end to all this nonsense. He found himself missing the days that his lover would sit chattering endlessly for hours at him, or how relaxed it made him feel to know that Goku was sitting nearby with his nose in a book. It had been going on too long.

He waited until Goku had gotten back to the temple and had gone about his usual business before taking action. With all the subtlety of a stampeding herd of cattle, he stormed his way to the spare room that was serving as Goku’s painting room. He opened the door with the full intent on giving the brunet a piece of his mind, until what he saw made him stop dead.

Sanzo found himself mesmerized by the sight of Goku perched shirtless in the chair, facing an easel with an extensive palette of colors resting on a table at his side. His hands were moving the brush in languid strokes across the canvas, making the monk close his eyes and remember those hands on him in such a way. Covered in splotches of paint, occasionally the boy would stop and step back, focusing on something before moving again to make a change here or there. Sanzo had never seen his lover so intent before; even the night when he had let the boy sketch him he wasn’t that intense.

Again, it was all incredibly arousing.

After a moment, Goku stepped back a final time and nodded to himself, jumping nearly a foot in the air when he realized that Sanzo was standing in the doorway. “Sanzo? What are you doing here?” he asked, wincing a second later when he thought about how stupid the question sounded.

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.” He attempted to peer around Goku, but the boy kept insisting on blocking his view with his body. “Well, if it’s for me, shouldn’t you let me see it?”

Goku looked down at his feet again, as though embarrassed. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, as a blush spread across his cheeks. “Because I don’t want you to laugh at me…” he mumbled, conceding defeat as he stepped aside to the let the monk push past him. He hung off to the side, refusing to look at the blond.

With a dismissive snort, Sanzo finally got a good look at the picture that had been claiming so much of his lover’s time. To say that he was shocked would have been an understatement, considering that this wasn’t at all what he expected. Gone were the days of the scribbles on his documents and finger paintings on the walls of the temple. Instead, while it was still rather amateurish, it was impressive in its own right. The blends of colors were vivid and brilliant, with so much of Goku’s own interpretation of the man he loved confined into a formerly blank canvas. Adequately impressed didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Well?” Goku asked anxiously, his arms shaking slightly as he encircled the monk’s waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. He waited on bated breath, hoping that all of his efforts were not in vain.

“Not bad…for a monkey.” Sanzo turned slightly and offered what could have been construed as a wink, the effect intensified by the slight twitch of a smile before he leaned in to capture the other’s mouth in a deep kiss.

Tongues tangled, hands wandered, and Sanzo decided that it was probably time to move this into their bedroom. When they broke apart, he stole one last glance at the painting before taking his lover by the hand and leading him down the hall. “Maybe next time you’ll find something that takes up less of your time to paint,” he commented, missing the smirk that flitted across his lover’s face at that.

“Or I could just paint you naked…” Goku insisted with a cackle, dodging the fist that threatened to come down on his head by ducking into their bedroom, followed closely by a slightly blushing Sanzo.

--END--