Enthusiasm (n.), orig. the state of having a god within

[erogappa]

Who: Gojyo (erogappa), Kurama (herbalsupplements), and Kuwabara (ivegotasword)
What: Retrieving a missing god
When: Forward-dated to the afternoon of May 11th
Where: Starting in Sapporo, Near Shore
Warnings: Overblown drama, suicide attempt



Sapporo, Japan

It wasn't the right restaurant. He knows his shrine, the special spot, the door to heaven, and it's in a Greek restaurant. He can't read Japanese -- not on his best day, and today is far from that -- but he knows the smell of the place by now. After this last week, he'll never get the smell of Greek food out of his nose ever again.

He shudders, leaning heavily against the chilly cement side of a towering office building. The cold shocks him awake, but it's only a temporary reprieve. Sleep is hard on his heels, sleep and him and his army -- they're lurking in every shadow, behind every corner, ready to spring the instant Gojyo closes his eyes. He can't close his eyes. Not until he's safe.

But it was the wrong restaurant. He tricked him, made him think he was in Japan, in Tokyo, on the right street the right town the right planet the right universe, but he's not. This isn't where he's supposed to be.

His foot slips out from under him, exhausted muscles failing. Without any forethought he punches the side of the building, hard enough to split the skin on his knuckles and leave a brillint red smear on the mottled grey wall. The pain helps, until it doesn't. He stumbles on.

He needs to find the restaurant. He can't go home without the restaurant, but if he heads right for it, then he will know where it is. He will learn Gojyo's secrets. If he gets to heaven, then he'll kill everyone. Gojyo tucks his bleeding hand into his stomach. It hurts. He can't remember why -- he must have been fighting. They keep trying to catch him, drag him back. He won't let that happen.

The wind whispers as it zips through the city streets, airy voices that promise a failed hunt and a swift and brutal recapture. He has to run, but running is impossible. Walking is impossible; he stumbles, catching himself on the edge of a dumpster. He can't keep going.

He'll rest then, okay. Just for a few minutes. In the alleyway behind a Layton Station, Gojyo tucks himself into a ball and tries desperately not to fall asleep.

Comments

[reformedsinner]

"You can make it up to me later," Hakkai assures him, dryly, and sits back on his heels without quite yet letting go. He hesitates for a moment, considering Gojyo's face. It's still marked deeply with exhaustion.

Gojyo is right: he should rest, and not fight himself screaming onto the floor.

"May I sleep here tonight?" It's not an unselfish question. He won't be resting well in his own room, not as afraid as he is of another abrupt disappearance, and the armchair is a thoroughly terrible place to get a night's sleep.

[erogappa]

That was clearly an unexpected question. Gojyo's eyes go wide, and he glances over Hakkai's shoulder at the bed behind him. It's certainly big enough for two -- it's big enough for four, and not even a particularly cuddly four -- but distance doesn't mean a thing to the heat-seeking. He'll end up stuck to Hakkai's side if they share the bed -- he won't mean anything by it, but it's just the way things are. And that will make Hakkai uncomfortable.

...Still. He really doesn't want to be alone.

"Uh. Yeah." It's a warm night -- he can sleep on top of the covers. Maybe that'll stop him from attaching himself to Hakkai in the middle of the night. "Yeah, no, there's plenty of room. I told you to sleep where you like, right?" he laughs, trying to dispel any awkwardness.

[reformedsinner]

"That's right, you did," Hakkai says, affecting a thoughtful expression, and frees one hand to tap his chin. "My mistake. I'll remember not to ask."

A little reluctantly, he lets go to get to his feet, with a small smile flickering over his face. He'll just sleep in his clothes, rather than worry about going to find his pajamas. The comfort value of all those normal bedtime routines isn't quite enough to outweigh the fact that he's tired, and Gojyo is certainly worse off, and he can't quite muster enough energy to bother.

[erogappa]

For all that he intended to sleep on top of the covers, once Gojyo's on his feet with the bed in his sights, he can't think of anything other than smashing his face into the pillow and pulling the blankets over his head. He smiles tiredly at Hakkai as he wobbles to his feet, giving the man's shoulder a squeeze (that is only partially about keeping his own balance).

"Good." Just five steps, and he can fall over. "This is your house too. You don't ever need my permission for anything."

[reformedsinner]

It's just a few steps to the bed. Hakkai returns Gojyo's smile, and bundles up the fallen sheets in his arms, tossing them back onto the bed as he toes off his socks in a tiny nod to the getting-ready-for-bed concept.

[erogappa]

He's asleep a solid three seconds before his head hits the pillow. With another body in the bed, the nightmares won't be nearly as bad -- he'll toss and whimper from time to time, but that'll be the worst of it -- and once he manages to octopus himself around Hakkai (all four limbs wrapped tight, and his face pressed against him too) the nightmares will cease completely.

[reformedsinner]

Hakkai's startled awake when Gojyo first rolls over to wrap an arm around him, but he doesn't pull away. He doesn't, in fact, mind. It feels a little awkward adjusting to someone curled up around him, and when he wakes up his arm is going to be asleep, but it feels safe. Gojyo won't be disappearing tonight.

Sleep pulls him down only a few minutes later, and the room is quiet.