Closed RP: Hakkai and the fluffy kittens, only not really

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

((Backdated to right after Josh's sorting.))

Hakkai, to put it succinctly, looked like he had been through hell, or possibly worse -- which he had been once, months and months ago, but he thought he had moved on since then. Or more accurately, he had repressed the memories just enough to allow him to function from day to day, to live something as close to a normal life as someone like him was capable of living.

Strange how just one short conversation could completely shake the grip he had over reality. Not that he had ever had much of a grip on it to begin with, honestly. It was really more of a sort of mutual agreement between himself and his sanity to remain within reaching distance of one another. But right now, it was currently inching just a little farther to the left than Hakkai was comfortable with.

As he made his way back to the Ravenclaw tower, he was only distantly aware of the fact that Sanzo was somewhere behind him; the part of him that acknowledged his presence waved it off as an act of preemptive damage control (I'm not going to do anything, it's fine it's fine everything is fine stop following me like I'm a rabid dog), and he sped up his step in an unconscious attempt to lose the monk. His hand kneaded the scar on his stomach, trying to ease some imagined ache that had been slowly intensifying ever since he had spoken with -- with him. He half expected to feel blood flowing over his fingers and was (disappointed, relieved,) confused when he didn't.

He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had left the Sorting Room, but it couldn't have been more than five or ten (or fifteen?) minutes -- and as he stumbled out of a hallway onto the landing of a staircase, he realized he had only managed to go around in one large and time-consuming circle. With the realization came a sudden loss of strength, and Hakkai pressed his back against a wall, slowly sinking to the floor. He wrapped one arm around his middle and brought his knees up, curling around the phantom pain of his old wound. And not for the first time in his life, Hakkai felt completely and utterly lost and helpless.

((Warning: The following events are not intended for viewers under the (emotional and mental) age of ten. No kittens were harmed or even present during the filming of this episode. For best results, take with a healthy does of wangsty music and water.))

Comments

[worldly_monk]

((repost to fix stupid formatting))

When Hakkai disappeared around a corner, Sanzo didn't hurry to catch up. He didn't need to see Hakkai to be able to follow him. There was only one youkai at Hogwarts, so it wasn't hard for Sanzo to just follow his sense of a youkai presence.

He had cursed under his breath when Hakkai had entering the Sorting Room. Instead of leaving, Sanzo had ended up staying in the room, keeping a discreet eye on Hakkai in case of trouble. 'Josh' had seemed harmless enough, if Sanzo overlooked that fact that he was willing to throw around divine level power in the name of 'helping'. However, he was still an aspect of the god that Hakkai had been raised to believe in. And given how Hakkai's life had gone so far, their meeting might not have been as peaceful as some of the others. He hadn't been close enough to hear what they said, but he could see by the look Hakkai's face that the conversation wasn't going well.

When Hakkai left the room, Sanzo followed. He hadn't planned to confront him, just make sure he didn't do anything drastic. Somewhat lost in his thoughts, Sanzo hadn't realized that he was catching up. He went around a corner and saw Hakkai sitting there, looking almost as lost as he had the day they had met. Sanzo hesitated, then walked a little closer and leaned against the wall across from him. Are you okay? would have been a pretty stupid question, so he didn't say anything.

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai didn't even look up when Sanzo approached, and it was hard to tell whether or not he even noticed him there. Either way, he seemed to decide, right then, that the ground was far more interesting than Sanzo or anyone else ever could be.

Several long, silent moments passed before Hakkai finally let out a slow breath and tried to relax his tensed body. He raised his head, blinking in what might have been surprise when he saw Sanzo across from him, and straightened up a bit (maybe he hadn't noticed the monk there, after all). His smile was somehow both carefully bright and unintentionally emotionless, a calculated imitation of his usual smile that only managed to make it painfully obvious that it was only a mask.

He cast his gaze down again in a conscious effort to avoid eye contact, the arm at his waist tightening a little protectively. He ran his other hand through his hair, stopping when it rested on the back of his neck. Even if Sanzo hadn't asked, Hakkai tried to think of something to say to tactfully assure him that he was actually fine, really, and that he honestly didn't any intention of flinging himself off of the closest tower or balcony. He sighed, and when he spoke, his voice was quiet and rough, slightly uneven.

"Ah, my stomach hurts." He paused for a moment to consider his own words and laughed almost bitterly at how ridiculous he must have sounded, like some a petulant five year old with a tummy ache. His chuckling ended with a slight wince, and he shifted a little on the floor, crossing his legs. Another second passed by silently, before Hakkai asked, "How much did you hear?"

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo waited with unusual patience for Hakkai to sort through his thoughts. When he looked up, Sanzo met his eyes calmly, but when Hakkai looked away again, Sanzo grimaced at the mockery of a smile. He knew what was behind the facade, and it worried him to see it so close to the surface. He could have claimed that he was concerned because he had accepted responsibility for Hakkai's actions, but the truth was he was just worried about Hakkai himself.

"I couldn't hear any of your conversation, but it was obvious that something he said upset you."

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"Ah, I see," he said absently. He felt faintly relieved that Sanzo hadn't overheard anything, though he couldn't think of any single reason why. Maybe it was because, this way, he would be able to keep his own foolishness to himself, or that he really had no obligation to explain to Sanzo his moment of emotional instability; the last thing Hakkai wanted, after all, was for him to think he was weak, especially not after all of the trouble he had already gone to to help him start his life over.

"If you're worried, I have no intention of-- of doing anything," Hakkai said after a while. It was more direct than usual, but he couldn't think of any other tactful way of saying it -- so an outright statement it was. He assumed that Sanzo was only here to make sure he didn't go on some sort of violent spree, and knew that he had a right to be concerned, of course. Any transgressions Hakkai committed now would be Sanzo's responsibility and reflect poorly on Sanzo, himself.

[worldly_monk]

"If I'm worried, it's not because I think you're going to 'do something'. Although, I have to admit, there was a moment when I wondered if you were planning to punch him." Sanzo watched Hakkai, wondering what was going through his mind. "Hakkai..." he started, then stopped. Maybe he should just leave him alone. "The gods don't know everything," he finally said, with a touch of cynicism in his voice. "They just like to pretend they do."

With a small sigh, Sanzo pushed away from the wall to stand in the hallway. "It didn't look like you were paying much attention to where you were going. I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to wander off the edge of one of those moving staircases."

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai's shoulders stiffened, and he glanced up quickly. He assumed he should have felt more guilty about the fact that he had very nearly done violence to a deity, -- under normal circumstances, he probably would have done something more passive-aggressive, like write a letter, -- but he failed utterly at feeling any remorse. "I considered it," he confessed slowly, inwardly cringing. "It seemed like a perfectly sound idea, at the time, to be honest. . ." He laughed absently and rubbed his forehead, not seeming to notice Sanzo's false start, and deciding to not respond to his opinions on the gods.

"I see," he repeated quietly, and he lowered both arms to his sides. He continued, sounding just as disoriented as he had looked earlier, "I'm afraid I got a little turned around, trying to get to Ravenclaw." Which was probably a good thing, he realized. He didn't really want to worry Gojyo by barging into their room, half out of his mind with grief (and what might have been panic). At least this short break had allowed him to calm down, if only a little. "Do you know how to get back from here?"

[worldly_monk]

"Hn. Maybe you should have hit him. He was pretty arrogant. I don't trust anyone who claims to have all the answers." For whatever reason, striking a god didn't seem like an unimaginable transgression to Sanzo. Maybe he'd just become too accustomed to having the avatars of the gods bossing him around all of the time.

He considered Hakkai for a moment before responding to his question. "Yeah, I know the way. Are you ready to go back? Or do you want to take the long way around?" He leaned over slightly and offered Hakkai a hand to help pull him up off the floor.

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai considered it for a moment and shrugged a shoulder. "I'm not sure, I don't think he was so awful," he said. He was probably lying, especially since he still felt that if he crossed paths with Josh again any time soon, he would likely act on temptation and attempt to knock a few of his teeth out. After thinking that, he finally mustered the slightest bit of guilt, fully aware of the fact that smacking the Savior around after he had passed on an extremely meaningful message probably wasn't the best way to show appreciation --

-- Even if listening to that message had pained him more than nearly anything else on Earth. Even if Hakkai felt the overwhelming need to share just how much it hurt to hear it.

He finally looked up and had a vague sense of deja vu, wondering for a moment just how many months it had been since they had first met. Those first couple of months had an unpleasant habit of all mushing together in his memory, and it was hard to remember if it had been over or under a full year just yet. "I'm fine," he said, probably sounding less convincingly than he imagined, "we can go back." He hesitated before taking Sanzo's hand and hauling himself up, adding quietly, "Please lead the way."

[worldly_monk]

As usual, Hakkai's definition of 'fine' seemed to be different from anyone else's, but Sanzo decided not to push it for the moment. He helped Hakkai to his feet, then turned and headed in the direction of Ravenclaw tower.

"At least he wasn't an asshole about it. He didn't seem too upset that I wasn't interested in becoming a convert. I'm guessing you didn't take him up on his offer of 'Eternal Life' either," he asked, not really expecting an answer. "The idea of Heaven always seemed to me like it would be incredibly boring."

[perverted-kappa.livejournal.com]

Gojyo had gone to bed early but still hadn't managed to fall asleep yet, instead drifting uncomfortably in a state of semiconsciousness, his mind not willing to rest, filled to the brim with too many thoughts and unresolved questions. Things that normally wouldn't warrant more than a passing acknowledgment seemed lately to dominate his thoughts, even inspired bizarre, unpleasant dreams, forcing him to become more introspective than he would have liked. The encounter with Sanzo might have started it, before Hakkai had shown up. And then Hakkai's birthday, and the disastrous events of that evening only added to it. He had either alienated Sanzo and Hakkai both, or else he'd alienated himself, because things just weren't quite -- right.

The sort of not-right that was accompanied by an ominous feeling, a promise of Very Bad Things to Come if he didn't figure out a way to prevent it. The logical choice was for him to return home and perhaps stay there until Hakkai finished assisting Sanzo and also returned, but there was no telling how long that might take. Maybe a visit, then, to deliver the gifts to Goku and check on the apartment, pick up a few changes of clothes and a deck of cards, stop by one of the local bars and hopefully break his recent inexplicable unlucky streak...

Irritated over having his rest disturbed, he opened an eye to see what all the noise was about, and his irritation practically tripled in an instant when he noticed Sanzo was there with Hakkai. Gojyo grunted and gave them his back, tugging the sheets up to cover his bare shoulder. Something about Hakkai's look and his strange manner suddenly registered, as well as the fact they were both carrying alcohol, and Gojyo rolled back over to face them, squinting groggily as he sat up. "Aw, shit. Ya got bodies we need to get rid of?"

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai gave Gojyo (or rather, his back) an apologetic look as he and Sanzo entered the room. He hadn't expected Gojyo to turn in so early, especially since Gojyo's usual bedtime ran anywhere between midnight and five in the morning. "I'm sorry if we woke you," he said gently, and for once, he did seem to be speaking in earnest. He wondered if this meant that his roommate had had some bad luck again tonight, which seemed to be happening quite frequently, lately. How odd.

He flinched when Gojyo spoke, placing the bottle and the empty glass on the nearby table as an excuse to turn away. He was silent for a brief moment before recollecting himself. "No, that won't be necessary," he said at length, attempting to sound as if nothing was wrong (even though clearly the opposite was true). "I apologise again for disturbing you. Care for a drink? Ah, but I'm afraid we only brought two glasses. . ."

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo was a little surprised that Gojyo had already gone to bed. It must have been later than he thought. One part of his brain was thoughtfully pointing out that, in case he hadn't noticed, Gojyo was in a bed, apparently half-naked, and there was alcohol in the room. He told that part of his brain to shut the fuck up.

"I'm sure we could find another glass around here somewhere." He sat down in a chair, placing the bottle on the table next to him. "Hakkai's decided he wants to get drunk," he informed Gojyo. "But if we're disturbing you, I suppose we could go to my room." He took a sip of his drink, debating what to say to Gojyo about Hakkai's meeting with 'Josh'. "We were down in the Sorting Rooms earlier. There was an applicant who claimed to be Jesus Christ, the son of the Christian God."

[perverted-kappa.livejournal.com]

He waved off Hakkai's unnecessary apologies and caught the covers before they fell too low, carefully tucking the innermost blanket around his waist. With whatever had happened, it probably wasn't the time to be giving either of them a free show. "The undead crucified guy?" He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, yawning. "Halloween's coming up, you know. It was probably a costume. What'd the clown do that's made you decide to hit the bottle, Hakkai?"

All Gojyo understood of Christianity was that there was supposedly a vengeful father in the sky, whose zombie son on earth once preached tolerance and love before and after being murdered by the very people he'd tried to 'save', and then the bits thrown in about virgin mothers, prostitutes, a sea of blood and some bush with herpes, as well as magical stone tablets with ten rules on them that you had to follow or you'd go to hell; it was all little more than a fairytale used to frighten naive children into behaving, in his opinion, not stuff anyone should take seriously, much less actually believe in. Living was hard enough without also having to worry about the possibility of suffering eternity in hell just for slipping up every now and then.

Though, as ridiculous as any organised religion seemed to him, he did occasionally wonder what it would be like to have faith in something -- anything. Maybe that was it? The Jesus guy had shaken whatever faith Hakkai had left? It would be pretty damned weird meeting a deity one believes in, he supposed. Before death, anyway. And something fairly traumatic had to have happened for Hakkai to suddenly endorse drinking like that.

Gojyo reached for the shot glass balanced on his bed's headboard and held it out, motioning for either of them to share. One drink wouldn't hurt.

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai opened the bottle of whatever it was that Sanzo had gotten for him -- he couldn't be bothered to check the name again -- and poured a small amount into his own glass. He regarded it carefully as Sanzo summarized tonight's events, glad that he wasn't elaborating quite as much as he could have, after which he was persuaded to down the entire mouthful in one go.

He coughed a little and blinked at the now empty glass, not bothering to hide how impressed he was. He was mostly sure that, if he were in possession of a normal alcohol tolerance, this probably would have gotten close to the limit. The wizarding world just seemed full of unexpected alcoholic surprises, didn't it? He looked over to Sanzo, expecting him to pour some Firewhiskey for Gojyo. Letting either of them near whatever it was he was drinking -- he finally glanced at the label again, making a note of it for future reference -- was not a part of the gameplan, even if it was only one drink. The decision was made mostly because Hakkai was painfully aware that the three of them together at various levels of extreme intoxication just failed to be a good idea.

He wasn't quite in the mood to be playing the mediator or chaperone (depending on the case) for the two of them tonight. And if they attempted to force the role on him, he would probably just let them work out any unresolved sexual tension themselves and clean up the broken glass the next day.

"He was genuine," he muttered, as he moved to sit at the edge of his bed. After refilling his glass, he placed the bottle on his nightstand -- which, it should be noted, had been impeccably reorganized (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/948218.html?thread=46980090#t46980090) since they had played dress-up with Gojyo. He sipped at his drink with more restraint this time, looking down at the ground. "It was nothing," he said, but what he actually meant was, I'd rather not talk about it.

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo raised an eyebrow at Gojyo's silent request for alcohol. His first impulse was to tell him to get off his ass and get it himself, but he stopped before he said anything. Hakkai didn't need to put up with their usual shit on top of everything else. Instead he quietly took the bottle over and poured a shot for Gojyo, then returned to his chair.

"He definitely wasn't a fake. His aura was just like a bodhisattva's." Sanzo frowned. "Which I guess is technically what he is, if you believe his story that he achieved enlightenment and then gave it up."

Sanzo swirled the ice in his glass, glancing over at Hakkai. Whatever had happened, Hakkai obviously wasn't going to talk about it voluntarily. He hadn't seen Hakkai this troubled since those first few weeks in Chang-An. He could probably force him to talk about it if he brought up Hakkai's supposed obligation to him, but he didn't want to do it that way. It would be better for Hakkai to decide to talk about it on his own, and that's where Gojyo came in. Sanzo was hoping that Gojyo would be able to coax it out of him.

"I heard him calling other people by name and mentioning details of their lives. All he told me was that he invented judo and met a yeti while he was at a Buddhist monastery." Sanzo took another drink, then set his glass aside. "I wonder if he couldn't 'read' me, or if he was being polite because I don't follow his path."

[perverted-kappa.livejournal.com]

"Aura," he snorted, barely refraining from rolling his eyes, then downed his shot of Firewhiskey and returned the glass to where it had been. Since Hakkai and Sanzo had decided to get drunk (perhaps only mildly tipsy in Hakkai's case), and neither seemed greatly inclined to share more alcohol, Gojyo would be forced to embrace the role of 'responsible adult' for once. Well, it was for Hakkai, who expected nothing and asked for even less. It was all Gojyo could do for him at that point, and he did so without complaint. "I've seen far stranger things here. It'd take more than knowing my name and life story to convince me he's the real deal. Any psychic could do that." And even if he was convinced, he wouldn't much care, but that was beside the point.

He slowly stretched out and audibly popped several joints, then settled back against his pillows, silently regarding them both. If it were just he and Hakkai, he might gradually press for more details and get to the heart of the matter, so Hakkai wouldn't spend all night brooding alone and closing himself off even more. But with Sanzo there, it wasn't strictly between friends. Sanzo's biting remarks and no bullshit attitude could certainly be effective in revealing the truth, but it wasn't the time nor the place for it. Hopefully he realised that himself.

Gojyo produced a cigarette from the pack beside his pillows, lit it and inhaled deeply, idly fingering his lighter. As the smoke curled toward the ceiling, he watched it with a thoughtful expression. "So, what, he's here to 'save' the school? Or he's on some other great holy mission that us mere mortals can't comprehend? Why would the real Jesus attend Hogwarts?"

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

"Hm, no, he's telling the truth." Hakkai took another sip of his drink -- before deciding to forgo propriety and just downing the rest of the shot. Managing to keep from coughing again, he set the empty glass aside and smiled brightly, holding up a hand and pointing to it with his other. "He had these holes in his hands and feet, you see, from when he was crucified. He was offering to allow people to put their fingers through them, so I'm mostly sure they were real, unless it was a very elaborate illusion. Goku probably would have found them interesting."

His laugh trailed off weakly and awkwardly (and he might have been cursing himself for letting his composure slip so much). Leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, he clasped his hands together and rested his fingers against his lips. "Those are certainly excellent questions," he murmured, muffled slightly, but his tone made it clear that he had no interest in looking into it himself, or in even really knowing the answers.

For a second, Hakkai looked as though he wanted to add something -- perhaps a comment about how whatever Jesus (or Josh or whatever he wanted to call himself) was planning, it would probably have the same effect that his last mission had; about how whatever he did would still amount to nothing down here, because people were too corrupt, too inherently sinful, to pay any attention to what he taught; about how people were down here suffering every single day, hour, minute, and that no one -- not Jesus, not even God -- had any room to claim to be able to take away pain at the end of life, when they couldn't even do that much when it was happening; about how, if God was incapable of even being able to tell apart those who deserve to live and those who didn't, then He really had no right to judge anyone.

But for whatever reason, Hakkai decided to not voice his opinions and kept silent, though his expression might have visibly darkened. It was probably because he was very aware that those topics just didn't make for good conversation, and far be it from him to make things any more uncomfortable than they already were.

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai winced at the change of mood and regretted having said anything at all. He knew well enough that he wasn't the only one here with a past that could stand to be forgotten, and just because he wasn't having such a wonderful night didn't mean he could take it upon himself to bring the other two down with him, whether it was purposely done or not. Clearly attaining a new level of selfishness was among the milestones of tonight.

He had phrased the question carefully before asking it, leaving it as something that could be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." While Sanzo had answered as Hakkai had expected -- which he couldn't fault him for, as the monk had always been a private person, -- Gojyo's relatively "elaborate" reply had surprised him. He regarded him mutely for a long while as he thought of something to say in return, something aside from the usual platitudes reserved expressly for easing emotionally-tense moments such as these. He could only manage to quietly say, "Well. . . you're stronger now, aren't you?" before stopping short and frowning. He wasn't quite sure if it was clear what he meant by that, but it was the only way he could think of to phrase his jumbled thoughts. (His mind felt a little sluggish, and he wasn't sure if he could blame it entirely on the alcohol.)

"Personally, I try to keep myself from thinking about it. But, ah, that usually just makes me think about it more, strangely enough." He smiled, but this time there was no false lightness behind it, no attempt to pass off what he was saying as something more cheerful than it really was. "Sometimes I can't help but wonder if she's wondering why I'm being so selfish in not joining her, or. . . well. She must--"

He grimaced, and it looked very much as though he wanted nothing more than to break something -- a window, a door, possibly someone's ribs. "She should resent me," he muttered. "I thought she did, and somehow -- I handled that more easily." He stopped and closed his eyes, breathing slowly. "I've changed so much. She should hate me for that, and she should hate me for not being Gonou anymore."

[worldly_monk]

"Obsessing over the past is a waste of time. You can't change it, so you might as well let it go and move forward." He shrugged. "Easier said than done of course." He wasn't always able to follow his own advice, especially on rainy nights.

He took another drag on his cigarette. "People change, that's what they're supposed to do. Do you really think she would have wanted you to die too? Or to stay frozen in time, just as you were?" His voice was calm, not accusing. His gaze sharpened, as he suddenly made a connection. "Is that it? Did he claim to have a message from her?"

He leaned over to stub out his cigarette (carefully not looking at anything other than the ashtray). Then he got up off the bed and went back over to the table to retrieve his glass. The ice had melted and it was mostly water now, but that was probably for the best. He grabbed the bottle and poured a little more, then turned and held the bottle up, silently asking if Gojyo wanted another shot.

[perverted-kappa.livejournal.com]

Had the comment been made by anyone else, they might've received a fist to the face, or possibly derisive laughter in response. But it wasn't anyone else, it was Hakkai, and even if Gojyo might not fully understand what he meant, he did know Hakkai could only have good intentions and the sentiment expressed was probably genuine. He accepted the unasked for sympathy with another slight smile.

"Think of the situation reversed. Maybe whatever you'd want for her, if she were alive and you weren't, is what she wants for you now, Hakkai." He decided against saying anything about love, since that would be entering foreign territory. His experience with familial love was fairly limited (though perhaps greater than Hakkai's and Sanzo's combined, he couldn't be sure), and he wouldn't know what to do with romantic love if it bit him on the ass, which he was almost certain it never would; romantic love and commitment seemed to come as a pair, and he and commitment went together about as well as oil and water.

He pulled down his shot glass again and held it out toward Sanzo, secretly enjoying having the good-for-nothing priest waiting on him, then gave Hakkai a curious look, wondering if Sanzo had guessed correctly.

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai shrugged slightly, trying to dismiss his own words. He had already said far more than he had ever wanted to, and he was sure that, if this kept up, he would end-up giving some lengthy speech detailing his entire life's story. (He didn't think that the two of them had any interest in hearing about how he once made a little girl cry when he was eight by telling her, honestly and directly enough, that he didn't want to be her friend, and that he had no intention of helping her make a crown out of the weeds that she kept insisting were flowers.)

It was a long while before he finally raised his head, and his customarily bright demeanor seemed to have finally returned, just not necessarily in full force. "Ah, you're both right, of course. Perhaps I'm thinking about this all in the wrong way. I'm sorry, I suppose I've just been in a strange mood, as of late." Hakkai had carefully sidestepped Sanzo's question -- which only succeeded in making it all too obvious what the answer was. Even so, the relatively sudden behavioral change was probably Hakkai's way of saying, Please, it would be best if we just pretended that nothing happened tonight and never brought this up again. I would appreciate it if you let me dwell over this in peace, thank you.

[worldly_monk]

Sanzo poured Firewhiskey into Gojyo's glass, set the bottle on the floor, and sat down on the bed again. He set his own glass down just long enough to light another cigarette. He was aware that he was smoking more than usual, and it was probably a sign that he was more troubled by the conversation than he wanted to let on.

He wasn't surprised when Hakkai avoided answering his question. He was good at that. Sanzo watched him for a moment, wondering if maybe they should try hitting him with pillows after all. At least he didn't look quite as lost as he had earlier. Sanzo was still curious about what Jesus had actually said, but he wasn't going to push it. "Don't worry about it," he said, dismissing the apology. He looked over at Gojyo, with a slight smile and a mildly conspiratorial look in his eyes. "I think Hakkai might actually be a little bit drunk. Too bad we don't have a camera."

[perverted-kappa.livejournal.com]

And Hakkai was right back to his characteristic cheerful front while completely avoiding answering the question. It wasn't difficult to put two and two together -- and if Jesus was in the business of delivering messages from the dead, Gojyo was very glad he hadn't attended the sorting--, but it was disappointing that Hakkai was drawing into himself again. Barely a glimpse of Gonou and he was already gone once more.

Gojyo took his time with the second shot, savouring the faint burning aftertaste. "I asked around about that, the moving pictures thing," he said, glancing from Hakkai to Sanzo. "It's the way the pictures are developed, not the camera itself. So any camera should work." He finished off the Firewhiskey with a smirk, then set the glass on his nightstand. "Just for future reference."

One of the local non-magical cities would sell cameras, surely. Maybe he could also pick up a few things for Halloween. If he could figure out a way to get there, the rest would be easy...

[polite-sinner.livejournal.com]

Hakkai blinked a few times and laughed at himself; now that his mask of perpetual cheerfulness was back in place, it didn't seem he had any plans of letting it slip again. "I might be, just a little," he said, ducking his head down. "Please don't tease me too much for it." He placed his glass aside on his own nightstand and pushed it away -- probably as a way of saying that he had had enough to drink for one night, and that passing-out from alcohol poisoning wasn't on his list of things to do.

He paused after Gojyo spoke and raised an eyebrow, regarding the two of them mutely. "'Future reference'? Ah, that sounds highly suspicious. Neither of you is planning anything, are you?" After watching them both for a second longer, he shrugged a shoulder and decided he would just have to deal with any problems that arose later, if and when it happened. He covered part of his face with a hand, and he smiled with his usual sense of embarrassment. "At least -- no pictures for now, please."

[worldly_monk]

"I'm not planning anything." Sanzo gestured towards Gojyo with the hand holding his glass. "Can't speak for him of course." He noted with some amusement that Hakkai was cutting himself off. Even when he was dealing with a spiritual crisis, he still managed to be the responsible one.