Midnight Snack

By nekomegamichan

Hakkai awoke to muffled noises coming from the kitchen. Blinking past the darkness he saw that the couch was empty, Gojyo's blankets thrown carelessly over the cushions. At first Hakkai was disinclined to get up. They'd been living together for nearly six months, and they'd come to know each other's habits quite well. More than likely Gojyo had had a bad dream, and was simply helping himself to a stiff drink and a cigarette to calm his nerves before going back to sleep. But when the noises continued, Hakkai finally climbed out of bed and went to see what the hell his nocturnal housemate was doing.

Gojyo sat at the tiny kitchen table, shoving cold noodles into his mouth. The redhead looked up as Hakkai came into the room, a sheepish expression spreading over his face. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's alright," Hakkai replied, sitting down opposite his friend. "Didn't you get enough at dinner?"

Gojyo took a bite of fried pork before answering, "Yeah, but I got hungry again."

"Obviously." Hakkai watched Gojyo eat in silence for a long moment. Gojyo's shirt was off, the muscles of his chest and arms etched in stark relief by the light of the exposed bulb overhead. He was slender, and probably always would be, but he'd managed to put on some weight over the past several months. It suited him, Hakkai thought, Gojyo had been too thin before.

Gojyo paused, the chopsticks half-way to his mouth, "That's creepy, man. You're just staring at me."

Hakkai shook himself, "I'm sorry," he apologized reflexively. Then he added, "You didn't eat well before I came along, did you?"

"Huh?" Gojyo grunted, somewhat surprised by the question that was less a question and more a statement of fact. "Why do you say that?"

"It's nothing really. Just that you eat everything I put in front of you like you don't know where your next meal is coming from."

"I never really thought about it that way," Gojyo said slowly, "But that's pretty much it. Until we got this gig running errands for His Holiness, whatever I made playing poker was what I had to live on. If I had a bad night, I didn't get to eat the next day - pure and simple. And when I was a kid..." he trailed off, seemingly unwilling to delve any further into his past.

Before Gojyo could get distracted with unpleasant thoughts, Hakkai smiled disarmingly and reached across the table to pick up the now empty plates and bowls. He rose and went to put them in the sink. "Well, so long as you're willing, I'll cook for you."

"That so?" Gojyo prodded, his full belly making him sleepy.

Heading back to bed, Hakkai stopped and glanced at the redhead over his shoulder, "It's a promise."

"Good, because I'm gonna hold you to it," Gojyo said, turning off the light.