FicWad

Tsuzuki marveled at how clear and hangover-free his head felt as he lounged on the bed for a few more precious moments the next morning. Even after all this time, he couldn't help the elation of waking up next to Hisoka, who was snuggled against him peacefully, the white sheets pooling low on his smooth white hips. He thanked whatever force of fate had shown the pair such mercy in allowing them to find each other after lives filled with so much emptiness and rejection. Awestruck by the long-lashed beauty of his sleeping face, Tsuzuki reluctantly woke his lover with a gentle kiss.

Blinking and adorably disheveled, Hisoka gazed up at him with a shy smile, winding his arms around him. The bliss of their private moment was quickly shattered, however, as Watari came bursting into the room like a whirlwind.

"Watari, for the love of God!" Hisoka yelped, pulling the covers over his torso and turning crimson as the scientist got an eyeful of their half naked embrace. In his haste however, he'd yanked the covers off of Tsuzuki entirely.

"Can't this wait, Watari?" Tsuzuki asked between clenched teeth as he attempted to cover himself with a pillow. Watari casually plopped down on the foot of the bed as if there were nothing unusual, though his eyes held a particularly mischievous twinkle.

"You'll never believe this! Look out the window," Watari said. Tsuzuki eyed him warily, grabbing Hisoka's pillow to cover his backside as he went to take a peek. He nearly dropped his coverings at the sight.

"Where the hell? What the hell?" Tsuzuki asked, his jaw slack as he saw that the house was not only on level ground, but in another place entirely. They were well away from the wilds of the forest now, and Tsuzuki could make out the beginnings of civilization in the form of grass huts in the distance.

"Kokopelli not only found out where Mat-gwas was headed, he sent us there! He told me last night when I was listening outside your -- when I was going for a walk. He said this village is ruled by a goddess of violence, fire and dance. Doesn't that sound exciting?" Watari asked. Hisoka gave him a steely glare.

"Violence and fire, eh?" Tsuzuki said, gazing out the window. "I hope she doesn't object to tourists."

"And guess why my night was interesting even though no one else stayed in my room?" Watari asked with a giggle.

"Because you were standing under our window, you perverted asshole!" Hisoka growled.

"Well, there is that," Watari said shamelessly. "But let's just say that even though you two were the only ones I saw go into a room together, it didn't stay that way!" Tsuzuki turned around.

"What do you mean?" Tsuzuki asked. Watari nearly bounced off the bed in excitement, jostling a very annoyed Hisoka.

"Your window wasn't the only one open, either. Standing between yours and Hy's -- it was like boy's love in stereo!" Watari said with a sigh.

"Little Hy-chan?" Tsuzuki asked. "That's so wrong!" Hisoka cleared his throat.

"Um -- technically, he's older than I am, Tsuzuki," Hisoka muttered.

"Oh, yeah," Tsuzuki said with an uneasy laugh, getting a sulky stare from his younger lover. "So, um, who?"

Hisoka sat upright on the bed, clinging tightly to the bedsheet wound about him as he stood, and securing it like a makeshift toga.

"You two are as gossipy as a couple of old women! It's none of our business!" Hisoka exclaimed, grabbing his clothes and stalking into the tiny bath closet, slamming the door behind him.

"Of course he's not curious. He can read minds! Oh, empathy is wasted on the non-nosy," Watari said, shaking his head. "Anyway, my money's on our dear, brooding poet. It would explain why his son ran for the Carpathians if Daddy secretly wanted to share his boyfriend and he found out somehow."

"Gee, they're already tense enough around each other these days without a lust god induced one night stand between them," Tsuzuki said thoughtfully, then glanced down. "Will you get the hell out of here, already? I'm tired of holding these pillows!"

xxxx

The group made their way towards the town, the air becoming tinged with salt, and the ground giving way to a sandy mix as an ocean came into view. Tsuzuki grinned excitedly.

"It's about time that damned doctor led us someplace like this!" Tsuzuki exclaimed, his pace quickening. A tall, pointed mountain emitting plumes of smoke loomed ominously over the landscape as they reached the first houses of the village.

"A town in the path of an active volcano," Hisoka muttered. "Yeah, that seems about right."

Curious villagers began to notice them as they made their way through the town, eyeing them alternately with suspicion and panic. The gazes became more welcoming as they reached the town's center, however. It appeared as though the inhabitants were preparing some kind of celebration, setting up large, hanging lanterns carved into faces from ropes suspended by poles that surrounded the perimeter of the area. Long mats of woven grass were placed together over the sand, and tables bearing fruit and two large, roasted boars were being decorated with colorful flowers.

"This is weird," Hisoka said. "It seems like they were expecting us."

No sooner had Hisoka made this observation, than they were approached by a group of tan, muscular men bearing spears. The shinigami tensed, ready for a fight, when they saw that the men's gestures and indecipherable words were of a friendly nature, as they guided the men towards the place they'd been preparing. They took them to a wooden platform over-hung with broad palm leaves, looking at each other in confusion, as there was only one large wicker chair waiting for them.

"They were only expecting one visitor," Hisoka said, concentrating.

"I wonder if it was Muraki they expected to see?" Tsuzuki asked.