Silence

It had been strangely quiet around Konzen's office that day, which bothered him to some extent. The annoying, little monkey was probably out in the field picking him more flowers to decorate his office. But the silence was wearing on his nerves more then usual, and that fact was bugging him more then the silence.

The monkey had missed lunch, which was odd. Normally he was in his office, chattering on about his morning, as the two made their way towards the mess hall. But Konzen went alone that day, and ate his lunch in an uncomfortable silence. Kenren had laughed at him, asking him where his little pet had gone. Konzen merely scowled in response.

For the rest of the afternoon, Konzen found himself distressed that Goku still hadn't come back. By that time, he was generally annoyed, and decided to find the little brat and beat him for staying out too long. He searched the compound, and came up empty-handed. He asked Tenpou if he'd seen the brunette. The dark-haired god merely shrugged and said he hadn't seen Goku at all that day.

Konzen was not only annoyed, but worried. It was not a good combination. It only angered him further.

Finally, after deciding the kid was probably lost, and dropped off a cliff somewhere, he headed back to his office. When he pulled open the door, he found the brat seated on the floor next to his desk, playing with the beautiful red flowers he'd picked. He looked up as Konzen entered, and his golden eyes literally lit up. He scrambled to his feet, and proceeded to shove the flowers in his face. "Look Konzen! I picked these flowers for you!"

Konzen sighed through his nose, relieved to see the kid all right. Though he'd never admit it. "Whatever. Just stop shoving them in my face," he muttered with a wave of his hand, turning to head back to the tedious job of filling out paperwork.

"K-Konzen...?"

Konzen looked over his shoulder with a sneer. "What?" he said sharply.

Goku's back was to him. "I...I don't..." the boy's sentence then trailed off, and he began to fall forwards.

"Goku!" Konzen sprang forwards just in time to catch the boy. He gently laid him on the ground, turning him over to look the brat over. It looked as though he'd fainted. But from what? They never had to deal with this kind of trouble in heaven.

He cursed the kid's earthly attributes and quickly ran off to find Tenpou. He'd know what to do.

---

"It seems he has a fever," Tenpou diagnosed with a sigh, pushing up on the glasses perched on his nose. Konzen looked him over skeptically, before turning to glance over at the small child sleeping restlessly in the bed next to him.

"A fever...?" Konzen echoed, slightly confused. Heaven had never seen sickness or famine. It was one of the boring perks of paradise.

"Yes," Tenpou said with a sigh. "He should be fine within a few days, but he's going to need some rest. You'll need to take care of him, or it will only get worse."

Konzen sighed, and sunk into a nearby chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This little brat's going to be the death of me, I swear," he muttered irritably.

Tenpou couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Well, Konzen, I wish you the best." He gave a small wave, and turned towards the door.

"Hold on," Konzen snapped. "Where do you think you're going?"

Tenpou turned, and shot him a smile. "I have my own little miscreant to look after. Don't think you're the only one," and with that, he headed out the door, closing it softly behind him.

Konzen groaned, clutching his head as a headache started to sit in. He turned and looked over at Goku; the boy was sleeping, though Konzen could tell he was having a nightmare. He was groaning softly, his eyes closed in feverish pain. Konzen pulled himself over to the brunette, placing a hand softly on his forehead. It was hot, really hot, and was cloaked in a thin layer of sweat. Somehow, he found that slightly distressing.

Leaning back in his chair, he turned his eyes up to the ceiling, pushing his fingers through his long blonde hair. "Stupid brat..." he mumbled.

---

It was late when he woke to the kid's soft groans. It had been two silent days, and Goku had not shown any signs of getting better. Konzen was really starting to worry about the brat. But it was late at night when he opened his eyes, hearing the groans and moans of the feverish boy in the bed next to him. Almost instantaneously, he threw the thin blankets off himself and moved to tend to the brunette.

He was twisting and turning in his bed, causing the thin sheets to wrap tightly around him. His breathing was short and ragged, and sweat was pouring down his brow. Konzen sighed, and moved to the bowel of water he'd set up yesterday. He grabbed the cloth, and held it to the boy's brow, trying to cool his heating temepture.

Goku groaned, but remained still. Konzen was glad for it. It took a minute, before Goku's ragged breaths began to settle back into an easy pace. "K-Konzen...?" he groaned out, his eyes still closed. Konzen figured he was sleep talking.

"What?" he replied softly.

"D-don't... I... n-need you... don't leave... my Konzen... m-my... Konzen..." small, child-like hands reached out, searching for the blonde. Konzen sighed softly, and reached out, grabbing one of Goku's hands while keeping the other firmly to his brow. Goku's fingers enlaced with Konzen's, and he brought it close, as if trying to seek some sort of comfort from his nightmarish phantoms.

Konzen pulled away as Goku seemed to have drifted off into a deeper state of slumber. He placed the cloth back in the bowel, and turned to head back to bed, when the boy groaned again. "Konzen... don't... leave me... need... my Konzen..." Konzen glanced over his shoulder, finding the brunette's hands out, searching for him again.

He knew he was going to regret this later.

He sighed softly, and turned back towards the bed. He took a seat next to the feverish brunette, grabbing one of Goku's hands again.

The child crawled into his lap, his eyes still closed. He pulled himself up, resting his face in Konzen's chest. Almost immediately he settled down, falling into an even deeper state of unconsciousness. Konzen could only sit in stun for a moment, before sighing. He wrapped his arms around the brat, and held him. He could hear Goku's even breaths, and it soothed him to some extent.

Gently, he rested his head atop Goku's and drifted off into an easy sleep.

---

"Koooooooooonzen! KonzenKonzenKonzen!"

Hearing the annoy brat's daily wake-up call, Konzen didn't even think before reacting in his usual way. He grabbed the pillow next to him, and hurled it in the general direction of the annoying voice. He heard the pillow hit the wall, then fall to the ground. Damn. He'd missed.

As soon as his mind began to wake up, he realized the kid was actually yelling at him to get up. The last two days had been so quiet, he'd actually forgotten about it. Tearing open his eyes, he was met with a pair of golden ones. The owner of those eyes grinned. "Good morning Konzen!" he chirped. "Now getupgetupgetup! It's time for breeeeeeakfaaaaast!"

Konzen slowly sat up, watching the brunette bounce around the room with his usual energy-level. He blinked slowly. It looked like the kid was a whole hell of a lot better. "Would you shut up already?" Konzen snapped, pulling himself from the kid's bed and running his fingers through his hair. "Geez, you couldn't even move yesterday, and today you're jumping around like a monkey."

Goku beamed. "Yeah, I know. I'm feelin' a whole lot better now. Thanks to Ten-chan and Konzen."

Konzen stared at the brat for a moment, before snorting and turning off towards the bathroom. He could hear the kid humming away while waiting for Konzen to finish. He hated how energetic the kid was in the mornings, even after being sick. Thanks to the brat it seemed every morning he woke up with a headache.

Yet at the same time he was glad the silence was broken.

-Owari

A/N: There it is, my first Konzen/Goku fic. Not very mushy, but I did my best. Also, I'm sorry if this is inacurate/messed up. I was sick while writing this. But please feel free to comment. Also, I only know parts of the Gaiden manga, thanks to the anime and my friend, who reads the manga in Korean. Lucky her. If anyone knows a link to a good sight where I can find some decent scans, please feel free to email me.