-----
"I think we missed a turn back there."
"A turn? We just keep it going straight."
"Well, nudge him a bit left; we're going too north."
"West is west. We'll get to something familiar eventually."
"Oi, Kou..."
"What? You don't like camping?"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you weren't in any hurry to make it back home," Dokugakuji murmured near his ear, leaning forward on the dragon. He let his nose nuzzle the back of Kougaiji's head a moment, by the nape of the neck. Short fresh-cut hair tickled his skin. "Mm. Are you tired at all? Maybe we should land and I could take the reins for a bit."
The young king chuckled, moved his head a bit to give better access to his neck. "Nn. No, I'm fine."
Dokugakuji used this shift in their positions to creep his hands up along his lover's thighs. "Maybe we could land for a bit anyway," he suggested.
"Ha-- Don't distract me, you'll make us crash."
"You won't crash. Maybe you'd rather get off right here, huh?" He let his hands creep a bit farther, arms around Kougaiji's waist.
"Ohh, better not," the king said through a delicious little laugh. He fell limply back into Dokugakuji's shoulders. And squirmed. "Can't. Concentrate. Losing control..."
Suddenly the dragon took a sharp tip, swinging them both violently on its back. It started to tumble and swerve.
"WHOA! WAIT! KOU! STOP!"
He was aware of melodious, highly amused laughter as the dragon slowly righted itself. And he noticed he was still holding on to Kougaiji's waist for dear life.
"You--" Dokugakuji managed, before the laughter caught up to him too. He edged back up and kissed the back of his lover's head, nuzzled his cheek in the short hair he'd been so opposed to at first, but actually felt rather nice sometimes. Kougaiji half-twisted around with head lolled back and got a very oddly-positioned kiss on the lips for his trouble.
All over, Dokugakuji was glad. Since a few years ago he had come to see a significant personality shift in the other man, and it felt like a good one. He seemed well --truly well-- for the first time as long as Dokugakuji had ever known him. He was at ease. In a sense, it was like he was finally free.
It had nothing to do with his kingship. Though he did make a great ruler, even if Kougaiji himself would never acknowledge it. Maybe it had a bit to do with having his mother back; Dokugakuji had worried for a while that the man's mother complex would reach breaking point once Rasetsunyo was released, but it actually seemed to let Kougaiji do that bit of growing up he hadn't been able to before.
But probably it was that for the first time in the king's life, it was plain to see that he was enjoying it and everything it included. It just figured the guy had been unconsciously waiting to let his hair down a little-- well, cut it off.
The dragon took another dive.
"Gkk--! KOU!" Dokugakuji wailed.
"That's not me!" Kougaiji insisted, struggling at the reins.
The bodyguard noted their ride's sluggish wings. "Ngh. I think that last stunt of yours sent it over the edge. He's looking pretty tired."
"You're right. But-- we're a long way from a town..."
"What about there?"
"Hn?" Kougaiji followed the direction of Dokugakuji's pointing finger. Across a stretch of mostly wilderness, there was a large walled compound. "It doesn't look like a city," he said as they sailed a bit closer. "It looks to be some sort of commune or monastery or somethi--"
Dokugakuji didn't appear to notice Kougaiji's abrupt halt. "Probably best not to bother. Way out here it'd probably be human-run. None to hospitable for our types."
"No," Kougaiji said distantly. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, something was telling him this was familiar. Even if he'd never viewed it from the air. Even if he'd never been the one to view it at all. "No, I think it'll be fine."
They were seen coming in, and a small crowd had already formed as they made their landing. Monks, all. A few apprentices, staring up in barely concealed contempt. The two were suddenly very aware of how bad they must look, dusty and windswept in well-worn traveler's gear. And youkai, of course. And look, sensei, that one has claws...
"I'm not liking this," Dokugakuji muttered, offering an arm for support as Kougaiji climbed off their tired mount. "Not too late to head back up and-- oh." He finished lamely, as the dragon, relieved of the last of the extra weight, took it as a cue to promptly faint. "Damn you're hard on rides, Kou..."
They were still getting stares. In fact, the crowd was getting bigger. There was half a chance it might part in fear if they tried to pass, but it was equally likely they'd be walking into a lion's den. Also, they couldn't carry all of their bags, but leaving them behind seemed an unsavory idea. Very unsavory, watching the expressions on some of those senior monks.
"Hey... HEY!" shouted a voice from somewhere off. Dokugakuji and Kougaiji glanced around and only saw the swinging movement of a large wooden beam above the heads of the crowd. Before it got closer, and a figure far taller than any of the surrounding came gradually into view. "What's all this, huh? We're on a schedule here! If we don't finish the west wall by evening prayers time, we..."
There was more talk, but Kougaiji wasn't really hearing it. The voice, yes, was vaguely familiar. As was the face. Except. Sort of. Not.
"Dude!" Goku exclaimed, hefting the beam to one shoulder. "You didn't tell us you were coming by!"
Kougaiji's neck was already starting to hurt with the strain of looking up.
He managed, "How... the... hell..."
The not-altogether-short, not-altogether-a-boy-anymore grinned at him. "Kheee. Think you can still take me in a fight?"
"How come I always end up the shortest?!"
Dokugakuji patted him consolingly on the head, which wasn't the nicest thing to have done when one is having height issues. "There, Kou; it's what we love you for."
Although, truth be told, this close up, it was a little unsettling to be just about eye to eye with a person he'd last seen about a foot shorter. "...Hey. Are you taller than Gojyo now too? He was about two inches shorter than me, and..."
Goku's grin widened. He didn't have to add anything more.
"I'll bet you wanna see Sanzo," he said instead, turning back (and down) to Kougaiji. "That's why you came, right?"
"We were just passing by," the king mumbled.
Goku shrugged and indicated at the passed out dragon still lying in the center of the crowd, that was nervously edging toward it every few seconds. "But I guess you're not passing on for a while, huh?"
"Well--"
"Hey," the earth sprite shouted to a cluster of monks to his right. "Finish the west wall without me, okay?" He shifted the wooden beam on his shoulder a little and tossed it to them as easily as though chucking a stick. The monks tried to catch it. Five of them fell down under the weight. And without a second glance at them, Goku went to the dragon and helped himself to removing the saddle bags.
Kougaiji looked (up) helplessly at Dokugakuji, who shook his head in resignation. They went to assist.
"Sanzo wouldn't... mind... seeing us?" Kougaiji asked a little later, as they started toward the main temple with bags in tow.
"You're kidding, right?" Goku answered. He addressed some servant boy going past and barked an order the other two youkai couldn't catch. The boy scampered off ahead of them. "Man, if I don't have to thank you. I dunno what the hell you ever did but Sanzo's been way different since that time. He tries to hide it, but he's a shit actor, you know."
Kougaiji vaguely wondered if the younger man had been borrowing more from Gojyo than just his height, but decided to ignore it for the moment. "Different how?" he asked instead.
"Just... different, I guess. It's hard to explain. Ah--"
Before they'd even made it to the top of the stairs, the door of the main temple opened. The first few out were servant boys, scurrying out of the way as though hell was at their backs, and then a few older monks. Presumably a session of some kind had just ended, or been interrupted.
He appeared last, wearing the white robes and breastplate so well known for, the sutra around his neck and the old bloodstains so faint you could hardly see them. He looked about the same. He'd let the gray he'd kept so hidden before come out in a handful of streaks around his temples, and he wore his glasses with a suggestion in their posture that said he wore them all the time now. But he also looked healthier. Like he'd finally allowed someone to offer advice about his diet. Just a bit. And he was still very beautiful.
And just for a moment, just one tiny split second before he regained his senses and masked it before anyone but Kougaiji could see, he smiled.
-----
09:36, 27 October 2004
Technically, this is where the epilogue ends. However, I decided to have a little fun with multibranching in this story, and write what is basically a lot of gratuitous sex. It's all fanservice from here on out with a few relics of decently plotty information, but if you were squirming from the DoKou scene in Fifth Beat, then nothing here is for you.
Otherwise, enjoy.
~K.A.