TITLE:
Brushstrokes
AUTHOR:
Eyes of Shinigami
PAIRING:
39. Natch.
TIMELINE:
Post-Journey
RATING: PG-13...WORKSAFE!
WARNINGS:
M/M, language, post-journey speculation, maybe a TAD OOC. I had fun with it
though.
SUMMARY:
Sanzo gets to see up close just where Goku's been disappearing to, and gets to
experience it in full.
DISCLAIMER:
I own not Saiyuki. Of this I am sure.
-----
Sanzo was beyond annoyed at this
point. This had been the latest of many days where Goku would disappear in the
morning and not reappear until well after night had set in. This also meant
that the other man was too worn-out for anything other than a sweet goodnight
kiss before drifting off into slumber. And now, the priest was tired of it.
Leaving him alone in the temple was one thing. Not coming back until it was
time to eat was another, but denying him sex? That was a no-no, and the boy was
going to pay dearly.
The blond sat up in bed that night,
watching out the window for when he would see his lover coming up the path to
the temple. He had smoked nearly a half a pack of cigarettes, frowning hard at
the overflowing ash tray on the windowsill. It seemed that Goku was running
later than usual, if the steadily ticking clock on the wall was any indication.
While he was not so insecure to think that this golden-eyed lover was seeking
others elsewhere, it still pissed him off to no end. How dare the monkey think
for one second that he could make him wait? That thought made him frown harder,
violet eyes searching the path once more.
"Sanzo?" a tentative
voiced asked suddenly, startling the monk enough that his hand tipped over the
ashtray. An amused smile played on the corners of Goku's mouth at his lover's
flustered state. "Why are you still up?"
If such a thing were possible, the
monk frowned even harder as he dusted off the blankets to the best of his
ability. He'd just get the brunet to clean it up later, and it would serve him
right. "You know, I really don't know. Hmmph. You should have more
consideration for other people, you selfish monkey." He knew his words
were more callous than he intended, but he could not let such behavior go
unpunished.
To the monk's surprise, the boy just
shrugged and readjusted his grip on the large, brown-paper covered package
under his arm. The action drew Sanzo's attention to it, as he cocked an eyebrow
in response. Again, Goku just shrugged and turned to leave the room without any
argument. "Okay then."
Damn monkey. He was really going to
pay for this later on. Swallowing his pride, Sanzo let out a sigh. "Whatever.
Now, what the hell is that? Would that be the reason that you're sneaking in so
late?" The words were softer this time, and the blond hoped that they hadn't
sounded as curious out loud as they did in his head.
Goku's eyes lit up and a wide smile
broke out onto his face. "Oh! You almost made me forget! Here, I'll show
you!" he chattered, noisily ripping the paper off of the package and
tossing it carelessly aside. Soon, a very large blank canvas was revealed, the
boy beaming at his lover like that was supposed to be the answer to his
question.
"Okay, so what?"
It was Goku's turn to sigh, more out
of exasperation than anything else. "It's a canvas, Sanzo. I went and
bought it today while I was out. Because…" his words trailed off, eyes
darting to the floor as though he were nervous.
Sanzo waited for all of three
seconds before the need to wield the fan began to itch in his hands. Instead,
he prompted his lover. "Because what? That doesn't tell me a whole lot. I'm
not a mind-reader." He didn't want to admit that he was dying to know
whether or not this was the reason Goku had been spending so much time away
from the temple, and the monkey's nervousness was not doing anything to assuage
the situation at all. Of course, that was a feeling he thought was better left
kept to himself.
Scuffing the floor with his bare
foot, the brunet still refused to look him in the face. "Because…I wanted
to paint you…" he mumbled, so low that Sanzo very nearly missed the softly
spoken words. A brilliant blush spilled out across Goku's cheeks, screwing his
eyes shut as though waiting for a blow from the fan.
At first, Sanzo was momentarily
stunned, glad that the boy was looking away so he missed the outbreak of expression
on the blond's face. Goku? Painting? That sort of thing required patience and
diligence, neither of which were Goku's strong points when it came to things
other than eating or killing demons. The momentary shock wore away and Sanzo
could only shake his head. "And where, pray tell, did you learn how to do
that?"
With his face still bright red, Goku
finally lifted his eyes to meet those of his lover. In a careful voice, he
spoke, "I've…been taking lessons. Gojyo said I needed a hobby, and I
thought it would be fun to try. I've done a couple…but I wanted to get good
enough so I could paint you." So innocently spoken, the clear need for
approval lay spread thinly beneath the surface of his words.
Aha. Mystery solved. And yet, Sanzo
couldn't find it in him to stay mad at the boy for such an action. Not that he
would tell him such a thing. "So you've got a hobby other than eating and
fucking…good for you. Now, why would you want to paint me?" he asked,
words lacking their earlier bite. He was still not the type to offer words of
comfort and sappy sweet nothings, but they'd been together long enough to
recognize the sentiment for what it was. The smile that the words brought were
enough to let him know that Goku had gotten the message.
"Well, my teacher said you
paint what you know, draw what you like. It makes it easier to accomplish what
you're trying to capture. And come on, Sanzo…what do I know better than you?"
"Meatbuns come to mind. Go
paint one of those."
The way Goku's expression scrunched
up in displeasure was undeniably adorable. "Sanzo, I'm trying to be
serious here! Please?" Large golden eyes wobbled expectantly at him as he
clutched at the canvas as though it were a lifeline. No matter how old Goku
got, or how deep his voice became, there was nothing Sanzo could do to make him
lose that annoying whining habit of his.
And there was nothing he could do
stop how susceptible he was to it either. "Fine, you stupid monkey. You'd
better make this worth my time." One violet eye peeked open to take in the
expression of joy that crossed his younger lover's face, wondering as Goku
offered a deep kiss in thanks just what the hell he was getting himself into.
-----
He was going to kill the monkey if
it was the last thing he did. Four hours later found him stuck in the same
position, his muscles beginning to cramp from the lack of motion. Every time he
dozed off or moved slightly, he was sharply reprimanded, and once or twice he
had to dodge a flying pencil or eraser while still maintaining his pose.
"Sanzo! Stop moving! You're
going to ruin it!"
"Just hurry the fuck up,
monkey!" he barked back, frowning hard at his lover when he went back to
his sketch. He was laying spread out on his back, clad only in his jeans with
his arms folded lightly above his head. Goku had spent nearly an hour
positioning him just right, voicing his displeasure when Sanzo argued or
disagreed. Stupid monkey.
Though, the monk couldn't deny how
sexy Goku looked while he worked. His golden eyes were alight with
determination, his brow creased hard in concentration as he sketched and
erased. Occasionally, his mouth would twitch in a frown or would curve slightly
in a smile. It was nice to see his lover so focused.
And incredibly arousing.
A minute twitch of his hips was not
enough to stop the flood of heat coursing through his body, only making it that
much worse when Goku's eyes drifted towards his jeans. "Problems, Sanzo?"
He smirked at the blond, going back to his picture before the other man had a
chance to answer.
A prominent vein on Sanzo's forehead
began to throb at the impudence of his lover. The very nerve! "You wish,
monkey."
"Oh, but I do…" purred
Goku, sending another shockwave of pleasure down his spine and straight to his
groin. "Since you've been so good during all of this…"
Sanzo frowned harder, but his body
definitely seemed to like the not-so-subtle hints that Goku was sending. All he
wanted now was the boy to hurry up so he could move or something. "Are you
almost done?"
Goku nodded at that, adding one
final pencil stroke before another wide grin spread out across his face. He
looked genuinely pleased with himself, his eyes glistening with pride when he
turned towards Sanzo. "Okay…I'm done…for now." At the blond's
questioning look, his smirk turned sinister. "I can't show it to you…not
until it's completely done. It's a surprise."
He let out a frustrated sigh at
that, but knew that it wasn't worth arguing with monkey logic; he wouldn't win
anyway. "Whatever. Just come to bed then." He pulled his lover into
the bed with him, deciding to ignore the picture for the time being. There were
more pleasurable things to think about at the moment.
-----
If Sanzo has thought Goku going to
his lessons was annoying, it had nothing on the wait to see that damned picture
that the monkey was painting. He would have never admitted it aloud, but the
anticipation was driving him up the wall. Not only now was the boy disappearing
during the day, but he would shut himself up in the room he used to sleep in
before the journey for hours. Presumably it meant that he was on his way to
finishing the painting, but it was taking just too damn long. It was eating
into his time with the monkey.
Finally, the blond got fed up with
it and decided that it was time to put an end to all this nonsense. He found
himself missing the days that his lover would sit chattering endlessly for
hours at him, or how relaxed it made him feel to know that Goku was sitting
nearby with his nose in a book. It had been going on too long.
He waited until Goku had gotten back
to the temple and had gone about his usual business before taking action. With
all the subtlety of a stampeding heard of cattle, he stormed his way to the
spare room that was serving as Goku's painting room. He opened the door with
the full intent on giving the brunet a piece of his mind, until what he saw
made him stop dead.
Sanzo found himself mesmerized by
the sight of Goku perched shirtless in the chair, facing an easel with an
extensive palette of colors resting on a table at his side. His hands were
moving the brush in languid strokes across the canvas, making the monk close
his eyes and remember those hands on him in such a way. Covered in splotches of
paint, occasionally the boy would stop and step back, focusing on something
before moving again to make a change here or there. Sanzo had never seen his
lover so intent before; even the night when he had let the boy sketch him he
wasn't that intense.
Again, it was all incredibly
arousing.
After a moment, Goku stepped back a
final time and nodded to himself, jumping nearly a foot in the air when he
realized that Sanzo was standing in the doorway. "Sanzo? What are you
doing here?" he asked, wincing a second later when he thought about how
stupid the question sounded.
"I'm not even going to dignify
that with a response." He attempted to peer around Goku, but the boy kept
insisting on blocking his view with his body. "Well, if it's for me,
shouldn't you let me see it?"
Goku looked down at his feet again,
as though embarrassed. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, as a blush
spread across his cheeks. "Because I don't want you to laugh at me…"
he mumbled, conceding defeat as he stepped aside to the let the monk push past
him. He hung off to the side, refusing to look at the blond.
With a dismissive snort, Sanzo
finally got a good look at the picture that had been claiming so much of his
lover's time. To say that he was shocked would have been an understatement,
considering that this wasn't at all what he expected. Gone were the days of the
scribbles on his documents and finger paintings on the walls of the temple.
Instead, while it was still rather amateurish, it was impressive in its own
right. The blends of colors were vivid and brilliant, with so much of Goku's
own interpretation of the man he loved confined into a formerly blank canvas.
Adequately impressed didn't even begin to cover it.
"Well?" Goku asked
anxiously, his arms shaking slightly as he encircled the monk's waist and
rested his chin on his shoulder. He waited on bated breath, hoping that all of
his efforts were not in vain.
"Not bad…for a monkey."
Sanzo turned slightly and offered what could have been construed as a wink, the
effect intensified by the slight twitch of a smile before he leaned in to
capture the other's mouth in a deep kiss.
Tongues tangled, hands wandered, and
Sanzo decided that it was probably time to move this into their bedroom. When
they broke apart, he stole one last glance at the painting before taking his
lover by the hand and leading him down the hall. "Maybe next time you'll
find something that takes up less of your time to paint," he commented,
missing the smirk that flitted across his lover's face at that.
"Or I could just paint you
naked…" Goku insisted with a cackle, dodging the fist that threatened to
come down on his head by ducking into their bedroom, followed closely by a
slightly blushing Sanzo.
-END-
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