The Art of Giving

by scribblemoose

"Can I have one of those, Sanzo?"

"No."

"One of these, then?"

"No. Shut up."

"How about…"

Sanzo's fan cracked around the back of Goku's head, the smack of it drowned out by Goku's scream of protest. "But I'm hungry, Sanzo!"

"This is all junk. If you're really hungry you need proper food. You can eat at Hakkai and Gojyo's."

Goku instantly brightened, golden eyes bright with hope. "Is Hakkai cooking?"

"I sincerely hope it's not Gojyo," muttered Sanzo, popping the fan back up his sleeve where it miraculously disappeared.

They were soon clear of the market stalls (much to Sanzo's relief) and heading away from the village and into the fringes of the forest where Gojyo's house (latterly Hakkai's also) lay. Goku's stomach rumbled loudly; he shoved his nose into the pack he was carrying. "Hey, Sanzo, what if I-"

"Don't even think about it," said Sanzo.

"But I'm starving! There's lots of apples in here. They'd never know-"

"Do you want to die?"

Goku shouldered the pack with a sigh and stomped through the forest in Sanzo's wake.

They were almost at their destination when Sanzo became aware that the familiar footsteps behind him had stopped.

"Goku? We don't have time to waste."

Goku had stopped a little way back down the path, and was, Sanzo realised, talking to someone.

"Goku?"

"Sorry, Sanzo!" Goku ran to catch him up, barely ducking the ritual fan-slap that he got for delaying them. "Sanzo, can I have some money?"

"Money? What the fuck do you need money for, you stupid monkey?"

"Didn't you see him? Back there in the forest. He said he was hungry, but he has no money. He can't work because the villagers chucked him out because he's youkai."

Sanzo's eyes narrowed. "Come on. We'll be late."

"What? But Sanzo, he needs help, it's not his fault he's down on his luck and-"

"Everyone makes their own luck, Goku. We can't go around paying for everyone else's mistakes."

Goku gawped at him for a moment. Then he dug down deep into his pocket and found a few fluff-covered coins. He ran back down the path as fast as he could.

And Sanzo walked away.

*******

"Do you think it's wrong to beg, Gojyo?"

"What, as in beg for mercy like you're about to do, stomach on legs?"

Goku blocked Gojyo's attempt at a strangle hold and barrelled into his middle, making Gojyo 'oof' and fall backwards, dragging Goku on top of him. That was about the last Goku thought of the incident in the forest; wrestling with Gojyo was fun (although he'd never admit it) and he could smell the soup and dumplings that Hakkai was about to serve for them. Sanzo and Hakkai were talking softly in the kitchen; he thought he might even have heard Sanzo laugh. Or at least, he wasn't shouting. Hakkai always seemed to be a good influence on Sanzo.

After dinner and a long and boring discussion about some job Sanzo wanted Hakkai and Gojyo to do for the temple, Goku curled up on a cushion at Sanzo's feet, and although he wanted to stay awake and play cards and maybe pester Hakkai for seconds – or was it thirds? – the warmth of the room and the fullness of his belly got the better of him, and he was fast asleep before he knew it.

The last thing he thought before his consciousness slipped to dreams was that he was, all things considered, very lucky indeed. For some reason he couldn’t quite remember, though, that bothered him.

Goku slept.

*******

"Okay, what are we doing out here at six in the morning? Nothing's going to be open in the village. And I'm not sure I trust that stinking monk to behave himself if we're not there."

"Don't be silly, Gojyo. What could he possibly do?"

"I don't know." Gojyo shrugged his shoulders irritably.

"He and Goku have a long journey ahead of them. They need their rest."

"I thought monks were supposed to get up early all the time?"

"Well, yes. You're right there."

They walked a few more yards in silence.

"It's cold," Gojyo complained.

"Really, I…"

"Warm me up, Hakkai."

Gojyo watched with a happy little feeling in his belly as a blush rose up Hakkai's cheeks.

"You know you want to," he added.

Hakkai gave a nervous little laugh, and Gojyo just couldn't help himself. In a moment he had his lover up against a tree, hands caught and pinned above his head as Gojyo nuzzled into his neck. This was all still new and exciting, and fired Gojyo's libido like nothing he'd ever known. He tasted the fresh, sweet flavour of Hakkai's skin as he licked and nibbled his way around his jaw, a smile of satsifaction creeping onto his face at Hakkai's gasp.

"We have to-" Hakkai tried, but his words were easily muffled by a kiss, and the eagerness with which Hakkai's arms twined around Gojyo's neck gave away his true feelings. For all that Hakkai thought of himself as a murderer – among other things – Gojyo still felt a little glow of pride at being his corruptor in some ways.

And this was most definitely one of them.

"Gojyo…" Hakkai breathed, but he was making no attempt to escape. His mouth was warm and his tongue firm and wet as it wrapped around Gojyo's, and when Gojyo rocked their hips together there was a stiff ridge of flesh in Hakkai's jeans that he just knew would be all hot silk and bliss in his mouth. He couldn't resist it. He slid down to his knees, unbuttoning Hakkai as he went, so that by the time he landed on the forest floor with a dull thud, Hakkai's erection was waiting for him. Hakkai clutched at his shoulders as he opened wide and took it deep into his mouth and throat, held it there for a moment and sucked hard until Hakkai rolled up onto his toes and started to thrust.

It didn't take long; Hakkai was in a hurry after all, although Gojyo preferred to think that it was his masterful technique that had his lover errupting in his mouth so soon. He flattened out his tongue and washed at silky flesh in slow sweeps as Hakkai pulsed and throbbed and spoke his name in that low, gutteral moan that sent tingles down Gojyo's spine. Only when Hakkai's cock began to soften did he finally let it fall from his mouth and tuck it safely back inside Hakkai's pants.

He got to his feet and swished his hair back over his shoulders with a smile.

"Gojyo…" squeaked Hakkai.

"Morning wood, eh? Whatchya gonna do?"

"I… but… you… I must do something for…"
" It's okay," said Gojyo, tossing a cigarette in the air and catching it expertly between his teeth. "Call it a gift. Some of us can control our urges, you know." And he winked through the brief yellow glow of his lighter's flame.

*******

A week later, when they were travelling through the village again the next time they visited Gojyo and Hakkai, Goku was amazed when Sanzo actually said yes when he pleaded for meatbuns. Even more surprising was that Sanzo actually seemed to care which stall he bought them from and chose the very best – and the most expensive. And he bought some for Hakkai and Gojyo too.

But most surprising of all was that the man who served them was the youkai he'd met in the forest.

"You got a job!" Goku exclaimed through a mouthful of bun.

"Have you no manners?" growled Sanzo. "Don't talk with your mouth-"

"How come you're working here?" asked Goku. Sanzo walked off, probably expecting him to follow. He'd catch up. Eventually.

"The strangest thing happened," the youkai said, filling a bag with apricot pastries the like of which Goku had never seen before. Apricots were Sanzo's favourite fruit, funnily enough. They looked very tasty indeed…

"Mmmm?"

"The day after I met you in the forest the owner of this stall came and found me. He was the ringleader of those who chased me out, and yet there he was, on his knees begging me to come back. He was wild-eyed and scared, and he told me he was leaving the village forever, and he wanted me to take over the business. He'd had some kind of visitation or something that told him to change his life. Isn't that strange?"

"Very," Goku agreed. Strawberry tarts were going into the bag too.

Goku loved strawberries.

"These are for you," the youkai said. "To say thank you."

"Thank you?" Goku frowned in confusion. "What for?"

Then Sanzo's voice bellowed back at him, and Goku chased after him, clutching the pastries gratefully to his chest.

~owari~

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