[ Gojyo just nods at that, the brief knot in his throat making talking a risk. He lights his cigarette instead, drawing in a deep, burning lungful, and that helps.

Okay. Almost done. ]

Good.

[ He exhales toward the ceiling, mind whirling. ]

We've got t'talk about Sanzo, too, but that can wait. [ He's stopped entirely meeting her eye -- that sympathetic look she gave him is just too much to deal with right now. ] Think you could send those two grocery shoppin' or something tomorrow around sundown?

[ I know you were close. They weren't 'close'. Those are his big clumsy stitches scarred into Hakkai's belly, Sanzo's bullet and Hakkai's lifeforce working together in the bullet hole over Gojyo's heart to save his life, Hakkai the only reason he didn't end up dead a thousand times and Gojyo the one who failed in the end to save Hakkai.

They weren't close. Before Hakkai came into his life, Gojyo didn't exist.

His grin is an easy, relaxed thing, though, as he smirks in the direction Hakkai and Sanzo had departed. ]

It'll be a lot easier to talk if those two aren't snoopin' around, you know?