Part One: Vegas
Chapter Four:
I wake up once again on his couch. I have absolutely no recollection of getting here. Once again, there is no one here.
I stand, blanket still around my shoulders and shuffle into the kitchen. Sesshoumaru sits stoically reading the paper and drinking coffee.
"Good morning." His greeting shocks me. Everything aches.
"Morning." I mumble, he puts the paper down while I gather my thoughts. I'm still standing in the open doorway.
"Thank you, for letting me stay here, again. You didn't have to, it was very kind." He just looks at me.
"I think it was wise of me to take you here when I did." He lifts up the paper as if to say he's done talking, but the conversation is not over. I sit across from him, helping myself to a cup of coffee from the still warm carafe.
"Now why do you say that?" Memories of the men following us out of the bar skitters across my scattered brain.
"Neither of you saw the looks you were getting from those men?" He's talking to me from behind the paper, as if looking at me will anger him more. I nod my head in recollection of our followers.
"Oh I saw the looks alright. They followed us right out of the bar."
"I could smell their hormones raging." I hear his teeth grit together, the noise sending a chill up and down my spine.
"Ah! Stop that noise! My poor head." I hold my temples, shaking my head violently, causing myself to become dizzy. In defeat I place my head on the table.
"That's your own doing. Help yourself to the fridge if you wish." With that we slip into our usual silence.
xxx
Melanie doesn't call me until late in the afternoon, so Sesshoumaru and I spend most of our day hanging out with one another. I bring him outside to play ball with Moichi.
I can see the neighbors peeking from their windows at us. At his beauty, he reclines beneath a maple tree as I toss the ball to Moichi.
"I don't think you choose not to talk to the neighbors. I think they're discriminating against you." His eyebrow twitches.
"They don't like you because of the way you look." He shrugs from his position on the grass, he seems to have never given it a second thought.
"I guess so."
"Doesn't that bother you?" He shrugs again.
"Not even a little bit?"
"They're giving me what I want. Privacy. I do not want to be bothered by pestering humans." It dawns on me. I am a pestering human. The poor demon is trying to live a 'normal' life amongst these people and I'm here kicking up dirt and digging a hole that was just buried.
"No. You are not a pestering human." He says answering my unspoken question. I suck in a breath and throw the ball I had been holding.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" He taps his nose. That would make sense. Worry causes adrenaline. His keen sense of smell must be even better than Inuyasha's.
I see an apparition, a hallucination, in the corner of my eye. Inuyasha in his horribly red garb, harrumphing in the corner. All I want to do is reach out. All I want to do is grab hold.
I melt into the grass, the weight of my thoughts dragging me down into the earth. I want nothing more than to lie here and sleep forever.
Moichi prances over, wet nose all over my hand still clasped around the tennis ball. He tries his hardest to get the ball from my hand, nipping and pawing at my fingers. I feel Sesshoumaru hover over my crumpled form on the perfect lawn.
"You look like him, you know?" I tell the ground like I told my pancakes. I look up into his eyes. His eyebrow twitches.
"It's your eyes remember? They're soft and warm now, yet also at the same time cold and guarded. They always hold something." Always full of life. He kneels so we're face to face. Eye to eye. Nose to nose. He lifts my chin with a slender finger, wiping the tears that have slipped down my cheeks away with his thumb.
"You keep saying we're the same. But we have one major difference that sets us worlds apart." He has my face in both his hands. We're nose to nose still. I'm looking at how beautiful he is in the sun.
"He is gone. I am here." With that he closes the minuscule gap that should have never existed between us, and I feel everything around me whizz by at a million miles an hour. This comfort, this protection, it's something I've been looking for but have never been able to find in this time.
His hand knots in my hair carefully. My body melts into his and I am safe by his side.
I break for air and touch my nose to his affectionately.
"Thanks for staying alive." I whisper.
My phone rings, but I don't want to answer it. I don't want to move.
Sesshoumaru pulls away slightly, and I take my phone out of my pocket.
"Hello?" It's Mel. I can hear Ted in the background.
"Kagome! Are you at Ichiro's again?"
"Yes."
"Jesus you're getting cozy with him."
"I guess you could say that."
"Don't forget about the rehearsal dinner tonight. Be back at the hotel around six alright?" I repeat everything back to her like I always do and hang up.
"Uggghhhhh... Mel." I lie back in the grass and close my eyes real tight.
"You need to rehearse, to eat dinner?" He flops down next to me and fully raises an eyebrow.
"It's some dumb wedding thing."
"Then what's the point of going?" I sit up and pull my knees to my chest.
"It's Mel's wedding, not mine. It's her choice of what she wants to do. So if she wants a rehearsal dinner, a bachelorette party and an enormous ceremony, then she's allowed to have one." We're sitting now, our knees touching in the grass. With a demon that isn't supposed to be here. And I, the priestess who should not have encountered him in the past, I touch his knee gently. "I'm glad you're here."
xxx
"Mel, I hope you don't mind. I brought Ichiro with me." I touch her shoulder as she stares at me blankly. I don't know if she wants to kill me or not.
"Mind? No no no. Not at all, Kags." She curls up on the bed and bites her fake nails. I pull her hand from her mouth, she's been doing it for a while now, and they're all mangled and claw like.
"Mel you ruined your nails. What's wrong?" She rolls onto her back and sprawls out.
"I'm so scared that we won't make it. That we'll be one of those divorced couples that got married too young. What if he finds someone younger than me?"
"If he did than it would be illegal." I pet her forehead, brushing the curls away from her eyes. She looks like a little girl, so small, so scared.
"That's part of my point. What if we're too young? What if we fall out of love? What if we fight about kids and jobs?" She's sitting up now and on a total rampage. Looking at me with terror in her eyes, she grabs hold of both my hands and gives them a tough squeeze.
"What if he doesn't like my dress?!" She's near tears and about to scream. I calm her down, but only slightly. Now she's making me panic, but I try to hide it behind a smile.
"Kagome, what if I'm about to make the biggest mistake of my life?" Her eyes are watering. I'm holding her face now between two hands and wiping the tears away. She tries to look away but I force eye contact.
"Well, does it feel like you're making a mistake?"
"No. But what if I..."
"That's not what I asked you. I said does it feel like you're making a mistake, and you said no. So you aren't making a mistake. You're embarking on a journey." Tears are slipping down her cheeks. Her mascara runs slightly and with my thumb I try to clean up her tears.
There's a knock at the door.
"Now that's your husband to be. Go greet him with a smile that reaches your eyes." She gets up. I feel quite proud of myself, I thought that was quite the pep talk. Although I think I feel more solid then she does.
"Kagome! There's someone here to see you!" I thought Ted was supposed to come up, I walk towards the door and see none other than Sesshoumaru standing in the doorway. Brilliantly dressed as always.
"Sessh...Ichiro?" Ted shoots a coy look at us as he sits in a chair with Melanie, holding her hand tightly. He knows she's been crying but she wears a smile now.
"I found him wandering around the lobby. I thought I'd bring you up a little surprise." Mel giggles goofily, her previous what ifs obviously gone.
"You are displeased?" He steps in and closes the door.
"No, no, I'm shocked." I take him into the separate sitting area so Mel and Ted can do whatever Mel and Ted do when no one's looking.
"I haven't even started getting ready yet." I groan. He stands awkwardly as I close off my side of the room. He's just looking at me with a blank stare, one hand in his pocket, the other hanging by his side.
"Umm, you can do whatever you want. Mel and Ted are paying for everything so help yourself to the minibar or you can order something on T.V. But no porn." I disappear into the bathroom with a stern finger wag.
"If I knew you were coming earlier I would have been ready by now." I'm shouting, which is completely unnecessary, but it makes me feel better.
I wash my face vigorously. There's soap in my eyes and I'm stumbling around looking for a towel.
"Jesus! You scared the bejesus out of me!" I scream when I take the towel from his awaiting hands. He just sits on the bathroom floor, legs folded underneath him and watches me. I continue to get ready as he stares, seemingly enthralled with what I'm doing. He can even make sitting on a grubby hotel bathroom floor look regal.
"You know what, I changed my mind I don't care what they think. You can order porn if you want, and you don't have to hang out here while I do my hair."
"I think I'll stay in here." His answer seems rather final.
I have never been one for elaborate makeup and hair. I feel a little lost when it comes to things like spending hours in front of a mirror perfecting the use of eyeliner and hair tools. I try my hardest to keep my calm when the clip in my hair won't do what I want it to but to no avail.
"UGH, I give up on my ridiculous hair!" I slam my hand on the counter, turning from the patronizing mirror. I don't like what I see.
I can feel his hand take the clip from my clenched fist. He puts the clip into his mouth and motions for me to turn around. He gathers my hair into his hands gently, brushing it out with his fingers as he works away. He slides the clip in and steps away. Looking into the no longer patronizing mirror, I like what I see. I look at him through the mirror.
"Thank you." I whisper. "Now get out. I have to change." I think I see his eyes roll. I slip my dress on and have severe difficulty with the zipper. Finally giving up I step out, holding my dress up as best I can.
"Zip me up please, and don't look at my butt!" He looks at me and I think I see a smirk dance across his features.
"I have already seen it." My face drops. He has? "That little green thing you used to wear when you were in my time, it did not do its job very well." He elaborates to my unspoken question. Oh dear.
"Well, then why were you looking at my butt in the first place?" I yell at him lightly.
"I was not trying to look, it was simply there in my vision once or twice." I feel myself turn bright red and look away, he zips my dress quietly and I feel my embarrassment rise.
I don't want to look at him now, I avoid his gaze at all costs.
"It is alright, we are even. You have seen me indecent before as well." He tilts my chin up lightly, forcing me to meet his gaze.
I guess I have seen him quite indecent, clad in leather, bare chest exposed. Not that it was a bad thing, he was rather well built for stripping actually. Personally I think his demonic marks make him look even better, almost like a badass.
Oh goodness if he can read mind I'm screwed.
My impure thoughts dance across my mind. That beautiful hair of his always falling so nicely around him, as if it had a mind of its own. Even on the first night I saw him it flowed perfectly, enveloping his perfectly sculpted body.
"When do you leave?" His question rouses me from my gutter brain thoughts, and I stare at him for a moment.
"Soon actually, I have to return to Maine to help curate an upcoming exhibit." I can see him contemplate something before he states.
"I'm coming with you." It is not a question, it's a statement. I can't picture him in Maine.
"Like, you're coming to live with me?" He nods, blank look now returning to his features.
"For real?" His eyes become serious and I don't question him further.
This will be interesting having an ageless dog demon come and live with me in the suburbs with his dog. Oh I can picture it now, my prying neighbors trying to catch a glimpse of him. Trying to figure out where I found him and if it's just a coincidence that he showed up right after I got back from Vegas.
And I will do nothing but let them look and gawk as I get him all to myself.
xxx
End of Chapter 4