Disclaimer: I don’t own these delicious boys! Sigh! I wish I
did.
Hopeless!
~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~
So! How hard can it be? Just
because HE wasn’t here meant that he was helpless. Just because he had
gotten used to having someone around who would cook for him, pick up after him
and throw out his well thumbed through magazines. He’d managed perfectly
before. Well survived anyway. Had never got food poisoning, and still managed
to come home in one piece more than once. So surely this was within his
abilities. He could suppose that it had been awhile since he had done this. Just
how hard could it be?
Gojyo took a deep breath. He put
a frying pan on the stove. He took a bottle of the golden liquid and poured
some into the pan. He turned on the gas and lit the hob. Hmm maybe he had the
heat up too strong, as the oil had started to smoke a bit. Unfortunately
turning it down didn’t help much. Well maybe it was something that didn’t get
washed off the pan from being used previously. He took an egg from the tray and
broke it neatly into the hot oil. Well, now it didn’t seem that the heat was
high enough, because the egg didn’t sizzle as it should have done. So he turned
the heat up just a touch. After a few minutes the egg on the whole looked
cooked. There was a peculiar smell but Gojyo didn’t take any notice.
He took a frying slice and tried
to slide it underneath the egg and loosen it off the surface. Tried; being the
operative word here. Hmm, note to self; remind Hakkai to buy another non stick
pan. This one was not very non-stick anymore. After successfully peeling it off
the pan, Gojyo finally managed to land the egg unceremoniously onto two
previously buttered pieces of bread on a plate. Hmm, there was that peculiar smell again, but he still paid it no mind.
He put the cooking utensils into
the sink; he then settled himself on a chair and started to eat. Ack!! What
the f…! This day was just could not get any worse. Now it was the egg that
tasted odd. He was a simple man and he simply wanted a fried egg sandwich. That
was not too much to ask for was it? Ok maybe he was still a little sloshed from
last night so maybe that made everything taste a little off. Arrg! Gojyo put
his head in his hands. Well he had to go brush his teeth to get that horrid taste out of his mouth and he would go lie
down. Maybe the big bad world would have been swallowed up by the time he woke
up and things would be fine. AND since HE wasn’t here…he could sleep in
the bed.
~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~
It had already been a couple of
weeks since the Banri incident, a new door had been put in and Gojyo and Hakkai
seemed to have re-settled into some kind of accepting truce. It wasn’t an
uneasy one. However neither was it an all’s-well-that-ends-well one. It was a
slow kind of learning trust, a kind of re-learning perhaps to find their
footing which somehow was there for Gojyo when there had been Gonou.
But Hakkai was a re-made man.
Youkai. He was more guarded, and Gojyo who loved them both wasn’t quite sure
where he stood. It felt like Gojyo was in between some kind invisible tug of
war as Hakkai learned to accept who he was now and tried to keep the ever
present pall of guilt and self loathing at bay. And Gojyo, of all people could
definitely understand self loathing. And the need to be in control, to have a
handle on a situation was there.
This early morning had found
Hakkai with the need to get out and get some breathing space. Alone. Just for a
few moments. Last night he had noticed that Gojyo had come home drunk. Not
unusual in itself. What was odd was that it was earlier than the norm, and he
did not have that lingering smell of woman scent on his skin. And when Gojyo
had come in, he had given Hakkai an odd look. A not-quite- smile with hidden
meaning and it had thrown Hakkai off course.
So he was out wandering the wilds
near the house, in fact not far from where their first meeting had taken place.
It seemed odd to be out here in broad daylight. Without the rain and the dark.
Here in sunlight, it seemed to give that memory a hazy ethereal feel. The few
moments of consciousness when he thought he had looked into the red eyes of
grim death, so beautiful and welcoming were they; that he had felt himself
smile before giving over to the darkness.
Hakkai shook his head. He was
becoming maudlin and melancholic again. He was wont to do that when he found
himself too much alone. Yes it was time to seek out his housemate, and
dissipate this air of mustiness about his shoulders.
He meandered slowly back, the
path intuitively remembered.
~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~
…Several hours later…
Something woke him up. Yeah there
were sounds coming from the kitchen. Hakkai. Gojyo got up, he had to go and see
if his friend was alright. Hakkai had already gone when Gojyo had woken up. He
had to go and tell Hakkai about the non stick pan as well. He was glad that he
had something as mundanely ridiculous as that to talk about. He, Sha Gojyo
expert with the pick up lines came unstuck when it came to Hakkai who was miles ahead of
him in wit and intellect. And it wasn't just simply that.
When he got to the kitchen, Gojyo
saw that Hakkai was sat at the table pondering the bottle of oil he had used
earlier. As soon as he walked in and Hakkai saw him, he had put the monocle
down on the table.
“Gojyo,” he managed to say. Hakkai
took a couple of deep breaths, and his body seemed to shake inwardly.
It was then that Gojyo realized
that the verdant eyed daemon was laughing. And o how Gojyo really loved to hear
that sound. But however much the redhead loved to hear this man laugh, it was
of great concern if he didn’t know the why of it, especially now it
seemed that he himself was the root cause of it. Hmm. Obviously he had done
something insanely silly. Again. He chose to ignore it in favour of the
conversation he had planned.
“Hey Hakkai we need to buy a new
non stick frying pan and I think we should chuck those eggs out, I think they
may be off or something!”
“Ahahaha! Ahahaha!” As bubbles of
chuckles escaped his lips.
Alright this was too much. Now
he had to know what was going on. Whatever it was. It was unnerving him.
“Hey what’s so funny?” Gojyo queried.
“If you don’t stop I’m going to have to resort to drastic measures!” He didn’t
know what if anything that he would do. But he had to say something.
“You my friend are the most
amazing person. I think I really needed that!” Hakkai managed to say at last.
“Yes, yes. One Gojyo a day till depression goes away!” he smiled at that. They
were twinkling bright in the afternoon light, without the glass to hide behind.
“No Gojyo we do not need a new
pan, nor are the eggs bad,” said the ever patient Hakkai as he paused- for effect maybe “you just shouldn’t
have used this to try frying your egg in!” he picked up the bottle. He handed
it over to Gojyo.
Roses’ Lime Cordial. That was
what the label said.
“Now I think I will try washing
the pan out... how about I make us some lunch? Fried egg sandwiches?” and
Hakkai broke into outright merriment this time.
Gojyo wanted to sink and
disappear into the wall. He put the bottle down. After a while he began to see the
humour in it. But hey it wasn’t that funny… was it? He thought about it
for a minute, but it was worth it to see those eyes sparkle then with
amusement. Never mind if it was at his expense. But...
“Hey! Hakkai… what happens to Gojyo
once the depression goes away?”
“Don’t know. I don’t know yet.”
Owari
~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~