The Discovery
(or 'Always Check the Beds for Sleeping Monkeys')

Gokuu sighed and shifted to try to get comfortable. He'd been fidgeting for half an hour solid, and he was no closer to sleep now than when he'd started. It wasn't the bed's fault - on the contrary, after endless nights spent sleeping in the jeep sprawled over Gojyou's bony legs, the bed was soft and fluffy and perfect. Hell, after five hundred years of sleeping on that cave floor, even the jeep was heaven, simply because he could leave it whenever he wanted.

No, the source of Gokuu's current restlessness could be traced squarely back to the man sitting up in the other bed, meticulously cleaning and oiling his gun. Sanzou had shrugged off the top half of his robes to allow him more freedom of movement, and the soft lamplight gleamed off supple black leather and smooth pale skin. Violet eyes were narrowed in concentration as nimble fingers danced over the parts of the gun. Sanzou didn't often feel secure enough to actually disassemble the gun for proper maintenance, so he was making good use of the recent lull in youkai activity.

Gokuu gave up on sleeping and turned over on his side, content to just watch the man who had brought light back into his life. With his golden hair and fair skin, the monk was like sunlight given living form, Gokuu mused sleepily. And just as a moth was drawn to fire, so Gokuu couldn't seem to keep from hovering in the man's vicinity, however much he got burned.

For once the look on Sanzou's face held nothing but concentration - no anger, no wariness, no cynical sarcasm. Gokuu drank in the beauty that was Sanzou in a rare moment of repose, and felt his body react in what had come to be a typical manner.

At first he'd though this reaction meant that he was ill or injured somehow, but Hakkai had assured him that it was perfectly natural. Indeed, the other youkai had insisted that he would come to enjoy it with time, though Gokuu still didn't see how that was likely. The tightening in his stomach and swelling in his crotch were uncomfortable at best, maddening at worst, as they filled him with an unnameable need to do something. It had gotten to the point where just being around Sanzou was enough to trigger the reaction, and seeing him like this ramped up the intensity until it was almost physically painful. If only he could figure out what to do about it! Maybe then this feeling that was so close to hunger would be satisfied and leave him in peace, allowing him to just enjoy being in Sanzou's company once more. Gokuu was on the verge of going to Hakkai again, and demanding the man do something about it, natural reaction or not.

He shifted again, trying to ease the tightness in his pants, and then spluttered as something large and soft hit him squarely in the face.

Peeling the offending object from him, he found it was a pillow. Not his pillow, which was currently twisted into a lump under his head from all his fidgeting. Looking across the room, he saw that Sanzou's bed was now lacking a pillow, and the man himself was glaring heatedly at Gokuu.

"What?" Gokuu demanded, bewildered at this sudden reaction. He hadn't said a word!

"If you can't lie still, then find somewhere else to sleep!" the irritable monk ordered. "You're driving me to distraction."

"I'll be good!" Gokuu hastily promised, stretching out and forcibly relaxing each muscle. As difficult as being around Sanzou was these days, he didn't want to be separated from the monk for an entire night. He let his eyes drift almost shut, watching Sanzou from underneath thick, dark lashes.

Sanzou returned his attention to his gun, but the open, relaxed look on his face had been replaced by his usual surly expression. Gokuu sighed at the loss, disappointed. He so rarely got to see Sanzou looking... well, perhaps not happy, but content.

A flash of white in the flickering light of the lamp was his only warning, and Gokuu didn't move fast enough to dodge the halisen. Sitting up and rubbing his forehead, he stared accusingly at Sanzou. "I didn't move!" he protested, stung.

Sanzou's glare deepened. "Out!" he snarled, pointing at the door. "And don't come back until morning!"

Gokuu blinked at him. "But Sanzou..." The monk had reassembled his gun, and he lifted it to point threateningly in Gokuu's direction. The youkai shut up and scrambled off his bed, not even bothering to gather up his armour or the rest of his clothes. When Sanzou had that look in his eyes, it was best not to tempt his itchy trigger finger. The monk was not above shooting at his companions to make a point.

When he was out in the hall with the door safely shut behind him, he sighed and slumped against the wall. Now where was he supposed to go? Hakuryuu was most likely in dragon form, curled up on Hakkai's pillow where it liked to sleep. If he'd grabbed his pillow and blankets, he could have just bedded down here in the hall, in front of the door, but it was too cold for him to want to sleep in the draughty hallway in nothing but his pants and undershirt.

He could always sleep in Hakkai and Gojyou's room, of course, but with the odd way those two had been acting lately, he wasn't sure that was such a good idea. For the last couple of weeks, whenever they'd been able to stay at an inn, Gojyou had insisted on separate rooms, saying it was too crowded to sleep when the four of them crammed into a single room. And somehow Gokuu was always paired with Sanzou - Hakkai said it was to keep Gojyou and Gokuu from killing each other in the night, but from the muffled sounds that traveled through the walls, Hakkai and Gojyou seemed to be fighting an awful lot as well.

They weren't fighting now, or at least Gokuu couldn't hear anything from their room. Padding over to their door, he knocked on it tentatively. It couldn't hurt to ask if he could sleep there, after all. There was no answer, and he knocked again, a bit louder. Still nothing - Gojyou could sleep through an earthquake, but Hakkai was a light sleeper. Pushing the door open, Gokuu confirmed his suspicion that nobody was there.

Well, it wasn't all that late, after all. Gojyou had mostly likely gone to find a local gambling den, and Hakkai... well, he might have gone to the bathhouse. Eying the room, which was a mirror image of the room he had just been evicted from, Gokuu decided to just make himself comfortable and wait for them to come back. When they returned, if they wanted him to leave he would, but hopefully they'd let him stay for just one night.

He climbed into one bed, noting Hakuryuu sleeping peacefully on the windowsill. Hakkai couldn't have gone too far, then. Snuggling into the blankets, without the distraction of Sanzou to occupy his thoughts and twist his stomach into knots, Gokuu was sound asleep within minutes.

He missed the sound of the door creaking open, but muffled laughter slowly drew him from the depths of sleep. Blinking sand from his eyes, Gokuu peered out from his nest of covers and saw Gojyou and Hakkai enter the room, trying to be quiet and failing. Gojyou had one arm slung around Hakkai as if for support, but he didn't seem to be drunk, which was unusual. Yawning, Gokuu tried to muster the energy to let them know he was there.

"I can't believe you got us thrown out of the bathhouse, Gojyou," Hakkai murmured, ducking out from under Gojyou's arm and dumping him unceremoniously on the other bed.

Gojyou smirked and tugged on his arm, causing Hakkai to tumble down across his lap. "I didn't hear you complaining at the time," the redhead replied. He ducked his head and locked his lips to Hakkai's, and the youkai ceased his half-hearted struggles and sagged into Gojyou's embrace. Gokuu stared at them, forgetting all about alerting them to his presence as he tried to figure out just what the hell was going on. He'd seen Gojyou kiss girls like that before, but he hadn't known you could kiss guys that way as well. Hakkai certainly didn't seem to be objecting - he'd wrapped his arms around Gojyou's neck and was pulling him closer.

"Besides, it's your own damn fault," Gojyou continued as he pulled away from the kiss, panting slightly. Hakkai sat up, straightening his tunic and sash, a faint blush marking his cheeks.

"How exactly can I be held responsible for the fact that you were making enough noise for the people in the next town to hear you?" Hakkai wanted to know, and Gojyou swatted lightly at him.

"You knew damn well I'd scream if you did that, baka," the half-breed argued heatedly. "I always do, don't I? I keep waiting for the monkey to burst in here some night, wanting to know who the hell is killing me."

Hakkai gave him a sweet smile. "Well, you simply must learn to work on your self-control, Gojyou."

Gojyou growled, and tackled him to the bed. "I'd rather work on yours," he muttered, pinning Hakkai's smaller body with his own weight. Gokuu held his breath, eyes wide. "I'll get you to scream yet, damn you."

"Maa, maa," Hakkai started, before his words were muffled by another kiss. He didn't seem to mind, kissing back enthusiastically; his hands were busy tugging Gojyou's vest and shirt off his shoulders.

There was no way in hell Gokuu was going to let them know he was there now. He'd been bugging Gojyou for months to explain to him just what it was that men and women did together that was so secret, and the half youkai's reply had inevitably been 'You'll understand when you're older' - usually accompanied by an insult. Now it looked like he was getting a chance to witness it first hand, and he wasn't going to blow it! Though he was forced to wonder if it was different between two guys. Either way, this would probably be his one and only chance to see it up close.

Hakkai had Gojyou stripped to the waist now, and his hands were stroking the firm muscles of the redhead's chest and stomach. Gojyou groaned appreciatively, fingers working at the ties of Hakkai's tunic. Once he had them undone, Hakkai obligingly lifted his shoulders so Gojyou could get the clothes off. Now they were both half naked, sprawled wantonly across the bed, and Gokuu felt his body reacting.

He bit his lip, wondering at himself. While Gojyou and Hakkai had occasionally elicited a reaction, this kind of intensity was normally reserved for the sight of Sanzou with his robes off. But, damn, right now they looked really... really... Gokuu sighed and squirmed in the blankets, mentally cursing the tight restriction of his pants.

Hakkai and Gojyou seemed to be having a similar problem. Hakkai was struggling to get his pants off without dislodging Gojyou, who had lowered his head to bite and suck at one small tan nipple. That made Hakkai sigh and throw his head back, a look of mingled pleasure and pain on his face. He retaliated by pinching Gojyou's nipple in return, which made the taller man moan loudly again.

Gokuu remained silent, watching them avidly, but his breath was starting to come faster, and his heart had sped up. He worked his hand down through the blankets and loosened the ties of his pants, and that helped a bit. Wondering why the other two seemed to be reacting so strongly to having their chests touched that way, he brought the hand back up and experimentally ran his fingers over his own nipple. The bit of flesh was hard and upright, as if he was cold, and as he brushed against it he felt a spark of warmth shoot straight down into his groin. He blinked, and tried pinching a little harder. A whole shower of sparks burst through him, and he had to bite his lip to keep from grunting in surprise. The sensation made the tension in his stomach and groin worse, but at the same time it felt so good he couldn't bring himself to stop. He tried touching the other nipple at the same time, and sure enough, that was twice as good.

He was drawn from his self-preoccupation by the sound of a muffled shout from Gojyou. The half youkai had his mouth pressed against the smooth column of Hakkai's neck, and one of Hakkai's hands was buried deep in the redhead's open pants. Gojyou ground his hips against Hakkai, pulling away from the kiss in order to curse softly. "Fuck, Hakkai! Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

Hakkai smiled up at him, his eyes glinting in the dim light. "Not at all. But there's not much more I can do while you still have your pants on. Why don't you take them off?"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Gojyou muttered, lifting himself off the bed. He quickly toed off his boots and let his baggy pants fall to the floor, stepping out of them gracefully. Gokuu drank in the sight of his friend, standing naked in a puddle of moonlight. Despite the scars marring the perfection of his tanned skin, Gojyou posed with the confidence of one who knows he is attractive and is more than willing to show it off. Hakkai obviously agreed, reaching out to run his hands over that moon-silvered skin.

Gojyou evaded him by stepping back just out of reach, and grinned at the disappointed noise Hakkai made. Tilting his head back, his red hair streaming down his back and shifting with every subtle movement of his body, Gojyou ran his hands down his front, pausing briefly to tease at his nipples, before one hand slid down to encircle the rigid flesh straining outward from his crotch. Gokuu choked at the sight, but thankfully his smaller noise was swallowed by the gasp from Hakkai. Gojyou pumped his hand up and down the length a few times, groaning loudly each time, his hips arching up into the contact of his hand.

Gokuu could hardly stand it - he was wound so tight inside, he thought he would burst if he didn't find some way to relieve the tension. Touching his chest was almost worse than doing nothing, despite how good it felt. Hakkai had kicked his pants off now, and was lying draped across the bed, his body just as swollen and rigid as Gojyou's.

The redhead left off touching himself and stepped forward to slap Hakkai's hand away when he moved to copy Gojyou's movements. "Don't," the half youkai ground out, and Hakkai bit his lip.

"Then stop teasing me and do something about it yourself," Hakkai replied, his voice strained with the same tension Gokuu was feeling. Gojyou chuckled, a purely sensual sound that sent shivers up Gokuu's back. The redhead knelt on the bed and leaned over to draw Hakkai's swollen flesh deep into his mouth. He bobbed his head up and down, mimicking the earlier movement of his hand on his own body, and Hakkai fisted his hands tightly in the sheets.

That was it. Gokuu couldn't take any more. Figuring that following Gojyou's example had served him pretty well thus far, he dropped one hand from his chest and slid it inside his pants, wrapping it firmly around the cause of the deep ache in his groin. He nearly shouted at the intense sensation, remembering at the last moment to turn his head and muffle the sound in his pillow. Dear gods, this felt better than eating! No wonder Gojyou and Hakkai had insisted on a separate room lately, if this was what they'd been up to. Stuffing one corner of the pillow into his mouth to stifle any further exclamations, Gokuu raised his eyes to peer out from beneath the blankets once more, sliding his hand slowly up and down over his throbbing flesh.

Hakkai had abandoned his grip on the bed to thread his fingers through Gojyou's hair, and he seemed to be tugging frantically to get Gojyou to stop. Gokuu wondered why on earth he'd want to stop, if it felt even half as good as what Gokuu was doing. "Enough, Gojyou!" the green-eyed youkai finally hissed, and Gojyou raised his head with a laugh.

"Too much for you?" the redhead teased, smirking widely as he wiped his mouth. Hakkai snorted.

"Unlike you, I'm not an ero-kappa," he retorted with a smile on his face to take the sting from the words. "I don't have your stamina, remember? You already got me off once in the bathhouse, if you do it again I won't have anything left."

"Saa, can't have that, can we?" Gojyou leaned down and kissed Hakkai deeply before tearing himself away and leaning down to rifle through the pockets of his discarded pants. He found whatever he was looking for and Hakkai took it from him, twisting open the cap of a small bottle and pouring a thick liquid into his palm. Gokuu could smell it from across the room, a sharp tang that mixed pleasantly with the heavy musky scent that had pervaded the room since Hakkai and Gojyou had tumbled onto the bed together. For that matter, Gokuu realized he was producing some of that musky scent himself, the odour intensifying as he pumped his hand back and forth. He could feel something building inside him, a tension that was both similar to and different from the earlier turmoil in his stomach.

Hakkai smoothed the liquid over Gojyou's straining flesh, mixing it with the pearly white drops that leaked from the tip, before pulling away and using the last of the oil to anoint his own ass. Gokuu wondered briefly what the hell he'd done that for, before his question was answered as Gojyou leaned forward and positioned himself so the rigid flesh of his groin was teasing the entrance of Hakkai's body. He paused there, staring down into those dark green eyes and smiling a wicked smile.

Hakkai shifted, straining his hips upward, to no avail. He raised his hands to tug on Gojyou's shoulders, trying to move him forwards, but Gojyou locked his arms and stayed put. Growling softly, Hakkai leaned up and kissed him viciously. "Damn it, Gojyou, just do it!" he ordered as he pulled away, his voice breaking with tension.

"Gods, I love it when you lose control," Gojyou breathed, pushing forward inch by torturous inch. Hakkai panted beneath him, head thrown back in ecstasy as Gojyou buried himself completely in the smaller man's body.

"I haven't... lost control..." Hakkai protested when Gojyou stilled once more.

"Oh?" Gojyou raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "That sounded an awful lot like begging, just a moment ago." He rocked his hips sharply, and Hakkai bit his lip.

"You haven't made me scream yet," the full youkai pointed out, raising one leg to wrap around Gojyou's waist and pull him closer. Gojyou groaned and pulled back before thrusting forward once more, then again, setting a pace that grew steadily rougher and more frantic.

"I'll just... have to... fix that," Gojyou grunted between thrusts, pounding steadily into the other man. In the bed across the room Gokuu had stuffed his free hand into his mouth as his moans escalated past the ability of the pillow to muffle them. He felt like Hakkai looked, drawn out to the breaking point, and still the tension built. His hips snapped instinctively forward to meet each descent of his hands, and his breath was sobbing in his lungs. He kept his eyes fixed firmly on the entwined bodies of his two friends, not wanting to miss a moment of this incredibly - erotic, yes, that was the word he'd been searching for! - this incredibly erotic experience.

Hakkai's body arched off the bed and his hands clenched on the half youkai's shoulders as he threw his head back, face twisted with pleasure, hissing Gojyou's name in a long, drawn-out syllable. It was too much for Gokuu - ecstasy slammed into him from all sides, the tension that had been building exploding in one massive convulsion that sent hot sticky fluid spurting out over his hand. He nearly choked with the effort of not screaming, throat burning with the need to shout as at last, at last he sated the aching need that had been driving him for weeks, months. This was what he'd been searching for, this was the answer, the secret to escaping his torment. He collapsed back into the mattress, feeling every muscle go limp. Through half-lidded eyes he watched as Gojyou thrust forward twice more before stiffening, his body shuddering above Hakkai's. Finally the redhead collapsed as well, Hakkai welcoming him with open arms as they shifted to lie side by side.

Realizing that his pants and hand were still sticky, Gokuu wiped his hand off and kicked the pants off, shoving them down to the bottom of the bed. Lying there in only his shirt, it was all he could do to keep his eyes open, curious if anything else would happen.

Gojyou wrapped his arms around Hakkai, pulling the smaller man close enough to use the redhead's shoulder as a pillow. "Love you," Gojyou murmured, sounding half asleep himself. "I'll get you to scream one of these days."

Hakkai chuckled, just as sleepy as his bedmate. "Perhaps someday. Sleep well, love, Sanzou wanted to leave early in the morning." Soon their steady breathing told Gokuu they had fallen soundly asleep, and he allowed himself to follow them into the dream world, feeling content and sated for the first time in weeks.

He awoke to the sound of grumbling and the chirping of Hakuryuu, and opened his eyes to see Gojyou struggling into his clothing. Hakkai was already fully dressed, lifting Hakuryuu from the windowsill. The little white dragon was still mostly asleep, and protesting at being moved. The sky outside was still dark, only the faintest hints of false dawn tingeing the horizon.

"I know it's early, Hakuryuu, but we need to get started soon if we're going to reach the next town by nightfall," Hakkai murmured to his companion. "I'll make sure you get some nice fresh meat tonight, okay?" The dragon chirped agreement, settling onto Hakkai's shoulder, though its eyes were still all but closed.

"Damn Sanzou, anyway," Gojyou muttered as he managed to tie the laces of his pants properly on the third try. Still shirtless, he reached for a beer can and leaned back against the wall, popping the tab and downing half the can in one long swallow. "We can't even get breakfast from the kitchen at this hour. We're gonna have to listen to the ape complain all the way to the next town."

"Maa, maa," Hakkai smiled at him. "If we waited until the kitchen was open, we'd have to sleep in Hakuryuu tonight. Wouldn't you rather have a room to ourselves again?" He traced one hand gently down Gojyou's face, much as he would caress Hakuryuu. Gojyou leaned into the touch, smirking.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But damn it, I'm still exhausted. I'd much rather be still curled up with you, lover." He tipped the can back to drain the remaining beer.

Gokuu yawned and sat up, scrubbing sleep out of his eyes. "Yeah, well, if you weren't such an ero-kappa, the two of you wouldn't still be tired," he muttered, feeling more than a bit groggy himself. Hakkai gasped, and Gojyou choked on his beer, sputtering amber liquid all over the place.

Gokuu paused in his search for his pants to give them an odd look. "What?"

"Gokuu!" Hakkai exclaimed, looking somehow both pale and flushed at the same time. "What are you doing here?"

Gokuu shrugged, making a face as he finally found his pants. They were still gross from last night. Well, he'd just have to live with it until he could make a quick trip to the outhouse and scrub it out. "Sanzou kicked me out 'cause I was driving him crazy. You guys weren't here, so I went to sleep. I figured you'd kick me out when you got back if you really didn't want me here."

Gojyou was coughing, his face beet red, and Hakkai absently pounded him on the back. Recovering, the half youkai stared at Gokuu in horror. "You mean you were in here all night? Fuck!" Though his breathing had returned to normal, his face was still red, and Gokuu snickered at the way it clashed with his scarlet hair.

"Did you sleep through us coming back?" Hakkai asked, his casual tone belied by the hint of red still staining his cheeks. Gokuu, finally finished getting his pants back on, wiggled out of the covers and stood, stretching.

"Nah. But you two looked like you were having fun, so I didn't want to interrupt. Besides I was curious." He tilted his head, studying the reactions of his two friends. "You two are really pretty together, you know that?"

"Why, you bratty little ape!" Gojyou hissed, lunging for him as Hakkai sank down onto the bed, face buried in his hands. Gokuu dodged the wild swing, dancing out of the way as Gojyou growled at him. "I'll teach you not to watch other people's private moments, you little Peeping Tom! Come here, you!"

Gokuu darted out the door, hearing Hakkai's laughter behind him. Glancing over his shoulder to see how close Gojyou was, Gokuu slammed headfirst into a solid, warm body.

WHAP!

"Bakazaru!" Sanzou barked as Gokuu ducked the next swing of the fan. "What the hell are you two doing at this hour of the morning?" Gokuu slipped behind him and clung to his back, using him as a shield against Gojyou. Since he couldn't reach Gokuu there, Sanzou turned his ire on the half youkai instead, smacking him smartly with the fan.

"Ow! Sanzou, you asshole, why the hell did you send Gokuu to our room?" Gojyou demanded, equally furious.

"If you didn't want him there, why the hell did you let him in?" Sanzou retorted, twisting to try to shake Gokuu off him.

Gokuu held tightly to Sanzou's robes, burying his face in the deep folds of fabric, inhaling the scent of Sanzou that he loved so much. To his surprise, the monk smelled of the same musky odour that clung to the rest of them, and Gokuu wondered what he'd been doing to put it there. Surely not the same thing as Gokuu himself? Suddenly Gokuu wondered what it would feel like to have Sanzou do the things to him that Gojyou had done to Hakkai last night.

Shivering, he released Sanzou abruptly. "I'm hungry," he announced, realizing as he said it that it was true. He was starving, in fact. Apparently those sorts of nocturnal activities took a lot of energy. "Let's go raid the kitchen!" Ducking past Sanzou's swipe with the fan and Gojyou's attempt at a punch, he bounded down the stairs towards the kitchen. Leaving the rest of them sputtering behind him, he wondered what would happen when they reached the next inn tonight. Ah, well... perhaps he would show Sanzou just what he'd learned from Hakkai and Gojyou!

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