[Ficlet] Building Bridges (Gen)

[tj_dragonblade]

Title: Building Bridges
Author: TJ Dragonblade
Fandom: Saiyuki
Rated: 7+, except that you wouldn't necessarily want your seven-year-old hearing some of the words that go through Gojyo's head. ^_^;
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Genre: Fluff, Genfic but this is meant to be part of the mostly-unwritten ficverse in my head where 585 and Hakuryuu/Hakkai are the norm, so read that into the background if you wish. ^_^
Wordcount: 750-ish
Summary: Hakuryuu and Gojyo share a bath. Never underestimate the power of acknowledgment.

Notes: For prompt #1 (Non-sexual First-Time scenario, time limit 1hr) over at saiyuki_time, and originally posted here. Drafting this took 50 min cumulative on two different non-consecutive days, not counting time taken to type it up after. Revisions on the fly inevitably happen in the typing, and I've taken another day to polish it up before posting for 'real' over here in my own journal. In the spirit of it being a writing exercise, though, it remains unbetaed and I'm posting without letting it sit untouched for a month or more beforehand, even though I'm itching to let it simmer awhile and see how it turns out then 'cause I'm just sure I can make it better with more time-- *resolutely turns off the 'stove'* ^_^;

===
"Yes, Gojyo, I do realize that I've never asked you to bathe Hakuryuu before, but it's imperative I get the shopping done before the markets close this evening and it's not at all fair to make him wait until I return."

Hakkai was doing that thing he did, where his eyes and his voice went all soft and warm and perfectly fucking reasonable and made you feel like an ass if you told him no, and Gojyo heaved a sigh. "Alright, alright, you're right. Fine." He really wasn't keen on doing much of anything with a dragon who wasn't terribly fond of him, but he knew when to admit defeat. And besides, the road had been downright swampy, what with all the recent rain, and even though Hakuryuu wasn't a jeep anymore he still looked pretty grimy. "I guess it's the least I can do. Come on." He held out his arm.

"Thank you, Gojyo," Hakkai beamed, handing over the little dragon who didn't look exactly happy about it but didn't put up a fuss either. "Please be sure to let him in the actual bath with you, and not just the cleansing beforehand. It's quite relaxing for him, and I'm sure you'll agree he deserves it more than any of us."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Treat him like a king and bow to his every whim. Got it. But he bites anything vital and all bets are off."

Hakkai's fake little laugh was not the most reassuring answer. "Now, Gojyo, I'm sure if you behave he'll do the same." He beamed that scary-sweet smile and then he was out the door, headed down the hall to collect Goku from Sanzo's room on his way to town.

Left alone with the dragon, Gojyo eyed Hakuryuu a little warily. "Okay then. I guess that's that. Now. I know I'm not your favorite person or anything and we don't always get along and you'd rather bathe with Hakkai and all that, but I'm doin' this as a favor to him so how about we both keep the claws to ourselves for the night, eh?"

"Kyuu," said Hakuryuu, which told Gojyo absolutely nothing at all.

But the dragon apparently thought the bath was a better idea than harrassing Gojyo at the moment; half an hour later Gojyo had both of them scrubbed clean, lounging in the warm pool, and feeling quite mellow.

"Still think Hakkai oughtta be the one doing this--spoiling you rotten is his job, not mine." Gojyo dumped a handful of water over the dragon's head. "But I guess you're not so bad, all things considered."

Hakuryuu shook off the dunking and sneezed before splashing Gojyo in return with one wing.

Gojyo flicked another handful of water in retaliation, which the dragon avoided by diving under and surfacing further away, bobbing up and down in the warm water.

"Still, though, the guy does work awful hard to keep all of us going," Gojyo offered after a moment, and sighed. "And I'm lettin' him make me look bad again if I don't help out a little now and then."

"Kyuu," Hakuryuu said, and Gojyo couldn't be sure but it almost sounded like he was agreeing with him.

"And it's not like I don't owe you anything, either. I mean yeah, he might spoil you rotten but you're really good for Hakkai and I hafta admit this journey would be even more of a pain in the ass if we didn't have you around. Guess maybe I should say thank you, huh?"

"Kyuu?"

And that one definitely sounded surprised.

"Yeah, yeah, I know--not what you expect from me, eh?" Gojyo chuckled, a little self-conscious. Having a conversation with the dragon, of all things. "But what the hell. Thank you."

Hakuryuu stared at him, hard, treading water there in front of him, but it wasn't the sort of stare that said 'You're about to get a finger bit' or 'Kiss your last pack of cigarettes goodbye'. It was an awful lot like the look Hakkai got when he was thinking something over real careful, only more dragon-y, and Gojyo found himself staring back, waiting for only the gods knew what.

"Kyuu," said the dragon at last, and Gojyo really couldn't interpret it, but Hakuryuu ducked back under the water and swam up to cuddle against his chest.

It was wet, and scaly, and a little hesitant, but it was an actual cuddle; and Gojyo held perfectly still though he knew he'd gone a little bug-eyed.

Hakuryuu nuzzled awkwardly at his jaw, and then his little dragon tongue flicked out to lick across Gojyo's cheek. "Kyuu," he cooed, and then he was gone again, diving under the water to surface with a splash all the way on the other side.

"...Huh." Gojyo blinked, and grinned his lopsided grin. He'd never actually expected any genuine sign of affection from the dragon, but there it was. "First time for everything, I guess..."

===
Started: 3/23/08
Drafted: 3/25/08
Polished & posted: 3/26/08

Concrit welcome. Thank you for reading.

Comments

[deathlike.livejournal.com]

<3

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Heh. It's not Kenren & Goujun interactions, but it's the closest I'm going to get for awhile yet. ^_^;

[deathlike.livejournal.com]

closest or the closet?

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

...

XD

[madame-maya.livejournal.com]

I think you just killed me with aww. ♥

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Aheh. ^_^; There are worse ways to go, I suppose.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the comment!

[tangerine-haze.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes too perfect. Hakuryuu is one of my favorites and ya just gotta love how he says so much with just one word, "Kyuu." :) This just made me smile and it's going into Hakuryuu's own little section of my memories.

And you have such cute Hakuryuu icons! I love the "I only look cute and innocent" one. :P

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

*grins* There is much dragon-love in this heart of mine, yes. He's quite expressive for his limited vocabulary. ^_^ Glad you enjoyed it!

And thanks - this icon's actually one of my favorites. It's a phrase I've seen on keychains and such for years, and his expression in the 'Lovely Babies' screencap just sort of insisted that the two should be combined.

[tangerine-haze.livejournal.com]

Hakuryuu has quickly become a favorite of mine.... With a face like that what's not to love? I keep trying to convince myself that Hakuryuu love isn't really beastiality. It only works about 3/4 of the time! ;D

Your Dragons give better Hickies icon just kills me! Have you ever read Zang Fu Theory by ladylotusmoon? There's a Gojyo/Hakuryuu scene in it that your Hickies icon reminds me of. *snickers* Poor Gojyo!

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

I haven't. I'll have to look that up.

And yeah, the bestiality debate. ^_^; I remember dithering on that line awhile, but eventually his sentience and his capacity to comprehend and consent put my mind at ease and turned it into a huge...kink, for lack of a better word. ^_^; Of course, I realize everyone may not interpret/view him the same way, so to each his/her own and all. ^_^

[tangerine-haze.livejournal.com]

I like your argument! My mind just sort of side-steps the issue. It's like beastiallity? What? No animals here, it's just Hakuryuu! :D

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

^_^; Hee, you hit my default fall-back excuse - the 'Dragons-aren't-animals-so-much-as-they're-another-race' argument. ^_^

[teru-bozu-ebi.livejournal.com]

You wrote this in an hour? I am mightily impressed. It flows really well, has a nice pace and a great feel. Immensely enjoyable. I really enjoyed that bit about the sort of stare that said 'You're about to get a finger bit' or 'Kiss your last pack of cigarettes goodbye...' I was grinning from ear to ear on that one!
...Did I say I was impressed you wrote this in an hour? ^_^

(I noticed that response above, and you you might *say* it ain't Goujun and Kenren interactions, but you can definitely feel echoes of them in there all the same... then again, this is me we're talking about.)
And I have to say "Dead Man's Party" is now stuck in my head.

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Aheh. ^_^; To be fair, I spent about an hour before I started writing trying to think up/think out the scenario, which it turns out is all supposed to be included in the writing time-limit. *headdesk* Really, I don't see how I could ever hope to manage idea-sparking, mental-planning, and drafting/editing/polishing all in an hour or less. But I guess that's why I joined the comm - I have issues with not focusing or concentrating on any one bit of writing for any length of time, so maybe trying to go the other direction might help to achieve a middle ground? *waves hands* Eh.

Anyway. Thank you for reading and commenting! Yeah, there's very definitely meant to be echoes of the Goujun-Kenren dynamic. That's half the thrill I find in writing either set of the guys; they are absolutely unique individuals (which is just another bit of the awesomeness that is Minekura; she could have made the Gaiden boys carbon-copies of the Sanzo-ikkou, but they're not even while they have parallels, y'know?) but there are threads of who they used to be or who they will be in either one. It's very satisfying to explore. And the idea of working out the friction between Kenren and Goujun, even if it's only in little ways, is a theme that keeps nudging at the back of my mind ever since I fell into the fandom. Though this may be the first time I've tried to do anything with it.

Because it's scribbled out so quick, though, I don't know how well the 'truce' really comes across. Ehh. I'm probably over-thinking it.

It's a little odd, to me, that I ended up coming more from Gojyo's point of view instead of playing in Hakuryuu's head like I 'usually' would. But I'll admit I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. ^_^

There are worse songs to have stuck in the head, I suppose. ^_^

[teru-bozu-ebi.livejournal.com]

Oh, much worse songs than "Dead Man's Party," I agree. I had "Senses Working Overtime" by XTC going on a good chunk of last week... *shudder*

So it wasn't technically an hour.*shrugs* I don't see how anything that isn't literally a drabble or first draft could possibly done that quickly. I'd just stare at the computer the whole hour in a panic if I was timed like that. Kudos for even attempting it.

It's a little odd, to me, that I ended up coming more from Gojyo's point of view instead of playing in Hakuryuu's head like I 'usually' would.

Yeah, I have to say that thought crossed my mind as well, especially since you had Gojyo so dead nuts on like that. Wow. But after wracking my brain I realized it certainly wasn't your first Gojyo fic, there was at least that one that was on the balconies, that was you, right? Probably others I would go "D'oh! Of course!" over if I wasn't so lazy and bothered to check my bookmarks. But you've played in that head space before. Nice Gojyo, did I mention that? But anyway this fic definitely has a nice parallel thing going on with Gojyo/Kenren and Goujun/Hakuryu. Keeping them separate entities but highlighting the thread that connects them. Nicely done.
For the record, the truce comes across loud and clear and is nicely understated. You don't even have to put on a monocle and squint to see it, so don't worry about that. ^_^

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Oh, good. I'm glad. ^_^

especially since you had Gojyo so dead nuts on like that. Wow.

I have to thank you profusely for saying that. I tend to be very insecure in my Gojyo-voice; it's historically been one of the things that gives me great trouble. That balconies fic you mention - after I first wrote/posted it, I spent two years intermittently tweaking a lot of things about it but especially Gojyo's voice/characterization before I made myself back off and leave it alone. There's this other thing that's first-person Gojyo that I spent awhile tweaking, also, but looking back now there's still more things, words, thought-processes and phrasings that I'd change. But it's not worth going back to try to bring old things 'up' to current standards - I'd be forever stuck on endless revisions and I'd never get anything new done. It's hard, though; the overachieving perfectionist in me is very loud. ^_^; I tell it that learning to write--like anything else--is a journey, and the flaws of the old stuff stand as measures of progress against newer. Or something.

I've posted one or two things since that I feel are pretty decent with the Gojyo-voice, but I spend a lot of the writing/editing time paying very close analytical attention to what sorts of words I'm using, trying to keep them simpler and less 'literary' or 'sophisticated' than the more formal/educated voices that come easier to me (the Goujuns, the Hakkais, the Tenpous, etc). I mean, Gojyo's not dull or stupid, not by any means, but I tend to doubt that he's had the chance for much in the way of formal education, in anything, and that's going to affect the sound and the feel of him. He thinks, acts, speaks etc in simpler, more common words and phrases than the generic voice I tend to write in by default, so it takes much more effort for me to consciously come at it from the right angle. Several of the things on my WIP list are things that get more fine-toothed scrutiny over whether or not Gojyo's coming out right than anything resembling drafting progress. ^_^; The last thing I think I'd posted with him really featured, most of the characterization was via dialogue; I was very careful to not go into anybody's head in the writing. This one, though, I went ahead and slipped into his POV, which affects the whole narrative vs. just what comes out of his mouth as far as voice, and I'm glad it turned out feeling right - especially with not spending the usual nit-picking time on it.

So yeah. Thank you. ^_^

Kenren comes a little easier, for the record, because he's got a slightly more polished edge to him than Gojyo, but I still have a lot of the same 'What's right, what's not' deliberations when trying to capture his voice. Which makes me think I might come out better telling stories from Tenpou's POV, but...that's a whole other can of worms, with all the effort he expends to keep people out of his head. Y'know? ^_^; Goujun, thankfully, gives me little to nothing in the way of trouble most times, at least as far as voice is concerned.

But then, of course, part of what makes the writing fun and rewarding is precisely these sorts of challenges, so...ehh.

[soliandxpyne.livejournal.com]

you're killin' me!! too cute for words. *___* not to mention your hakuryuu makes my heart clench like baby froglets cuddling. >ヮ< the extreme love for squirmy cold blooded pets here is so tangible i can taste it. ♥ wonderful job! and in only an hour, huh? :D

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Hee. Thank you! Hakuryuu is a fun one to write, whatever I happen to be doing with him in the writing. ^_^ And yes, an hour. Or two-ish, all things revisionary considered. Maybe next time I can even find all of that drafting hour on the same day. -_- But I ought to stop complaining, I suppose. The more I look at this, the more I find I'm pretty well happy with it, and usually that's not the case. *shuts up*

[soliandxpyne.livejournal.com]

that's good! Even if it's 2 hours, it was a decent length and very enjoyable. I've been trying to bully Soli into writing lately, with only moderate success. :T maybe i should try to get her to do an "hour a day" type challenge? maybe i should try drawing for at least an hour a day... hehe

[kyuuuu.livejournal.com]

~ sneaks in ~

Posting a link to this fic (of course) because it's just tooo cute. XD

~ sneaks back out ~

[nightengale.livejournal.com]

I agree with what's been said about your Gojyo voice - very genuine. I also agree with your suggestion that I'd like this - I really think I needed an innocent little smile like this. It's simple, it's hesitant, and it's sweet. Love. ♥

[tj-dragonblade.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm glad. Thank you. ♥ It's very reassuring to get the comments on Gojyo-voice, too, so thanks for that also.

Really, I'm kind of surprised that I'm still as happy/satisfied with this as I am, given how quickly it was written. But I'm not going to complain. ^_^