Serenade - an Etchings story.
It's not really a proper short story, more an extended snippet relating the events in page four and five of Etchings (see previous posts) in more detail.
A note for those on my flist who are not familiar with Inuyasha: Jaken is Sesshoumaru's servant. He is a small, irascible, wrinkled toad demon.
Anyway, on with the story. It's unbetaed and possibly a little rushed. I can't really tell at the moment.
:: Serenade ::
In the cricket-infested darkness of a late spring night, Sesshoumaru blinked awake, and then wondered why.
The dulcet sounds of a croaking mating aria trailed through the open window. Jaken was at it again. He was not putting a lot of heart into it, Sesshoumaru noted. Getting a bit on, was Jaken. Or perhaps he was still nursing the headache from earlier.
Sesshoumaru had silenced Jaken's first attempt at serenading with a slipper to the head, thrown with force from his study window. Fire-bellied toad demons mated in early spring, and Jaken was only following the call of nature. Normally Sesshoumaru would not have reacted, but he had been torn out of a vivid daydream of Kagome wearing the fluttery, barely-there costume of a harem slave and offering to fulfil his every sexual wish. He had perhaps reacted a bit more strongly than the interruption warranted. Or not strongly enough.
Anyway, Sesshoumaru knew that Jaken's croaking could not have roused him from sleep. There must have been something else, and here it was again.
His ear twitched.
A …
… Stampeding army.
In the north wing. Come to plunder his-
Library?
Sesshoumaru pondered this for a moment, then rose to get dressed.
Well, well. The miko was trying to sneak around.
In truth, Sesshoumaru was doubtful whether stomping down the halls with a lit lantern and an accelerated heartbeat could be rightfully called sneaking, but the intent was plain, even though the execution was abysmal.
In any case, she was bound to be embarrassed at being caught. As additional ammunition, Sesshoumaru left his kosode wide open, the better to display his perfect chest. A good strategist made use of opportunities as they presented themselves, and Sesshoumaru was excellent.
He left his bedroom and strode across the nightingale floor without making any noise at all - this is how it was done, he thought with satisfaction.
Kagome was muttering to herself.
He had not noticed at first, distracted by the complete discordant orchestra of her progress. Yet sure enough, Kagome was mumbling to herself about stupid Jaken and his stupid singing, and these horrible creaky floors.
Sesshoumaru allowed himself a minute smirk.
Then he briefly contemplated giving Kagome lessons in stealth, and more importantly, silence. And then he contemplated testing her.
His muscles locked. In his eyes red light ignited, spilling to the polished floor. He closed his eyes, shuttering the glow, and willed himself to calm down.
It was remarkably hard. The daydream from earlier had returned with a vengeance, and across the inside of his eyelids Kagome reclined, spiderweb-thin silk bunching up in strategic positions.
When he reopened his eyes, it was just in time to see the dancing light of a lantern announce Kagome, and then the girl herself stampeded around the corner, looking shifty and remarkably out of breath.
Her cheeks were red, and she was clutching a scroll to her chest. He rather thought her recognized the gold inlay on the cylinder.
Sesshoumaru smiled. It seemed his daydreams might not be that far off the mark after all. He shifted in the shadows, awash in pure predatory anticipation.
It must have communicated because Kagome stumbled and shuddered. He watched her look over her shoulder - wrong direction, really, the girl didn't have a shred of predator in her - and quicken her steps. Her breathing had quickened too.
Sesshoumaru moved.
A hurrying Kagome skidded comically to a halt and overbalanced into his chest. The scroll she had been clutching clattered to the floor and rolled away.
"Oof!" she huffed, then glared up at him as he made no move to support her. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, as if he were the one sneaking naughty scrolls out of the library. "It's late!"
Sesshoumaru raised an expressive eyebrow. He'd always found that silence was a good form of communication. People told him lots of interesting things just to stop his silences from ringing quite so loud.
He used the ensuing time to study Kagome's sleeping attire. It was… unique. No fluttering scarves anywhere, but bunnies in abundance, and little sickle moons. He approved of the latter, but he abhorred soft and cuddly rodents. Kagome must have loved them; a crude likeness fashioned from low-grade fur adorned her feet as well.
No fluttery scarves everywhere. Sesshoumaru resolved that Kagome's horrible bunnies would shortly meet with an accident, and then he would magnanimously offer a replacement. Something thin and silk, and as close to see-through as he could make it.
"I couldn't sleep," Kagome explained, drawing him from his thoughts. Even in the dark, her cheeks glowed. "Er, did Jaken wake you too? And what is it that he's doing anyway?"
Sesshoumaru shifted slightly, so that the sharp blue moonlight would delineate his half-bared chest to better advantage.
"You don't know?" he asked, leaning closer.
Sure enough Kagome snuck a glance. Then she blushed and looked away. Then she scowled. Any minute now, her embarrassment would turn to belligerence.
Sesshoumaru leaned back to give her room. Her outbursts were so very entertaining.
"I just said I didn't, didn't I? Anyway was there something you wanted?" Kagome demanded waspishly.
Sesshoumaru suppressed a smirk.
"Do you mean to imply that I need permission to walk my own halls?" he asked in his best supercilious daimyo voice.
"You're not walking. You're blocking my way. On purpose."
"And where would you be going in such a hurry miko? I would think that if you suffered from lack of sleep, it wouldn't matter where you did it."
On cue, Jaken's singing increased in both fervor and pitch.
"I'm going back to bed," Kagome said resolutely. Despite his own resolution to remain unruffled, Sesshoumaru's eyes darkened.
"Yes," she added, watching him warily. "With- with my book. Scroll. Whatever."
Sesshoumaru glanced at the gold inscription. It glinted innocently in the sharp light.
"Ah, yes. Interesting choice of reading material. Though I confess I wonder why you think this particular scroll is conducive to sleep. It never had that effect on me. Quite the contrary."
Kagome blanched. And then she blushed so violently that for a moment Sesshoumaru feared she might self-combust. And then she looked… intrigued.
"It- it did? I mean, it didn't?"
"Not particularly. Allow me to demonstrate."
Sesshoumaru pounced.
"Mmmph!"
The kiss was everything a first kiss should be. It was hard and soft and damp and clumsy and then it just was.
Kagome was kissing him back. Hard.
Sesshoumaru stopped thinking. He stopped breathing.
At first Kagome had been startled and unresponsive, but now she was clutching at his shoulders and now and again she would give a little moan that would surge like fire through his blood, and lick deeper into his mouth.
Sesshoumaru filled his hands with her. He cupped the firm, rounded globes of her bottom, delighting in her strangled squeak. He ran his palm up her ribcage, avoiding her breast through sheer willpower, but she melted into him anyway and whimpered, and he was lost.
Kagome dug her short, blunt nails into his neck, urging him even closer. He stroked her narrow waist and tried to plan. Kagome protested the softening kiss with a growl; he caressed the satiny skin of her hip to calm her down. The lumpy, soft fabric of her clothes was a nuisance, tangling in his fingers and obscuring the elegant line of Kagome's slim waist. Several delicate claw slashes later Kagome's torso was beautifully bare and bits of bunny were raining to the ground.
Sesshoumaru pressed Kagome into the paneled wall. Then he bit her lower lip to distract himself from the feeling of her naked breasts pressing into his chest and tried again, in vain, to think.
Kagome shimmied demandingly, drawing a groan from him.
"Miko," he admonished, half out of his mind with lust.
"Kagome," she told him breathily. "More kissing, less talking."
He considered her. "I never thought you would be so bold," he said. "Kagome."
And it was wreaking havoc on his capacity for rational thought, he mused happily.
"I'm not bold, I'm desperate," she muttered, and before she could second-guess that remark Sesshoumaru was kissing her again.
"You are beautiful," he told her seriously, because it was the truth. Here, caught between dark and light, the pale glow of the Shikon illuminating her skin from within, she was a goddess. He felt drunk.
Kagome bit her lip, her eyes now suspiciously wet, and touched his face.
The scalding wash of emotion he felt then was too sharp and overwhelming to be acknowledged. Sesshoumaru touched his lips to Kagome's hair so that he wouldn't have to look into her eyes.
"I shall compliment Jaken tomorrow on the success of his mating song," he said therefore, hoarsely, and as caught Kagome's outraged gasp with his mouth, he found that he was smiling.
::fin
A note for those on my flist who are not familiar with Inuyasha: Jaken is Sesshoumaru's servant. He is a small, irascible, wrinkled toad demon.
Anyway, on with the story. It's unbetaed and possibly a little rushed. I can't really tell at the moment.
:: Serenade ::
In the cricket-infested darkness of a late spring night, Sesshoumaru blinked awake, and then wondered why.
The dulcet sounds of a croaking mating aria trailed through the open window. Jaken was at it again. He was not putting a lot of heart into it, Sesshoumaru noted. Getting a bit on, was Jaken. Or perhaps he was still nursing the headache from earlier.
Sesshoumaru had silenced Jaken's first attempt at serenading with a slipper to the head, thrown with force from his study window. Fire-bellied toad demons mated in early spring, and Jaken was only following the call of nature. Normally Sesshoumaru would not have reacted, but he had been torn out of a vivid daydream of Kagome wearing the fluttery, barely-there costume of a harem slave and offering to fulfil his every sexual wish. He had perhaps reacted a bit more strongly than the interruption warranted. Or not strongly enough.
Anyway, Sesshoumaru knew that Jaken's croaking could not have roused him from sleep. There must have been something else, and here it was again.
His ear twitched.
A …
… Stampeding army.
In the north wing. Come to plunder his-
Library?
Sesshoumaru pondered this for a moment, then rose to get dressed.
Well, well. The miko was trying to sneak around.
In truth, Sesshoumaru was doubtful whether stomping down the halls with a lit lantern and an accelerated heartbeat could be rightfully called sneaking, but the intent was plain, even though the execution was abysmal.
In any case, she was bound to be embarrassed at being caught. As additional ammunition, Sesshoumaru left his kosode wide open, the better to display his perfect chest. A good strategist made use of opportunities as they presented themselves, and Sesshoumaru was excellent.
He left his bedroom and strode across the nightingale floor without making any noise at all - this is how it was done, he thought with satisfaction.
Kagome was muttering to herself.
He had not noticed at first, distracted by the complete discordant orchestra of her progress. Yet sure enough, Kagome was mumbling to herself about stupid Jaken and his stupid singing, and these horrible creaky floors.
Sesshoumaru allowed himself a minute smirk.
Then he briefly contemplated giving Kagome lessons in stealth, and more importantly, silence. And then he contemplated testing her.
His muscles locked. In his eyes red light ignited, spilling to the polished floor. He closed his eyes, shuttering the glow, and willed himself to calm down.
It was remarkably hard. The daydream from earlier had returned with a vengeance, and across the inside of his eyelids Kagome reclined, spiderweb-thin silk bunching up in strategic positions.
When he reopened his eyes, it was just in time to see the dancing light of a lantern announce Kagome, and then the girl herself stampeded around the corner, looking shifty and remarkably out of breath.
Her cheeks were red, and she was clutching a scroll to her chest. He rather thought her recognized the gold inlay on the cylinder.
Sesshoumaru smiled. It seemed his daydreams might not be that far off the mark after all. He shifted in the shadows, awash in pure predatory anticipation.
It must have communicated because Kagome stumbled and shuddered. He watched her look over her shoulder - wrong direction, really, the girl didn't have a shred of predator in her - and quicken her steps. Her breathing had quickened too.
Sesshoumaru moved.
A hurrying Kagome skidded comically to a halt and overbalanced into his chest. The scroll she had been clutching clattered to the floor and rolled away.
"Oof!" she huffed, then glared up at him as he made no move to support her. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, as if he were the one sneaking naughty scrolls out of the library. "It's late!"
Sesshoumaru raised an expressive eyebrow. He'd always found that silence was a good form of communication. People told him lots of interesting things just to stop his silences from ringing quite so loud.
He used the ensuing time to study Kagome's sleeping attire. It was… unique. No fluttering scarves anywhere, but bunnies in abundance, and little sickle moons. He approved of the latter, but he abhorred soft and cuddly rodents. Kagome must have loved them; a crude likeness fashioned from low-grade fur adorned her feet as well.
No fluttery scarves everywhere. Sesshoumaru resolved that Kagome's horrible bunnies would shortly meet with an accident, and then he would magnanimously offer a replacement. Something thin and silk, and as close to see-through as he could make it.
"I couldn't sleep," Kagome explained, drawing him from his thoughts. Even in the dark, her cheeks glowed. "Er, did Jaken wake you too? And what is it that he's doing anyway?"
Sesshoumaru shifted slightly, so that the sharp blue moonlight would delineate his half-bared chest to better advantage.
"You don't know?" he asked, leaning closer.
Sure enough Kagome snuck a glance. Then she blushed and looked away. Then she scowled. Any minute now, her embarrassment would turn to belligerence.
Sesshoumaru leaned back to give her room. Her outbursts were so very entertaining.
"I just said I didn't, didn't I? Anyway was there something you wanted?" Kagome demanded waspishly.
Sesshoumaru suppressed a smirk.
"Do you mean to imply that I need permission to walk my own halls?" he asked in his best supercilious daimyo voice.
"You're not walking. You're blocking my way. On purpose."
"And where would you be going in such a hurry miko? I would think that if you suffered from lack of sleep, it wouldn't matter where you did it."
On cue, Jaken's singing increased in both fervor and pitch.
"I'm going back to bed," Kagome said resolutely. Despite his own resolution to remain unruffled, Sesshoumaru's eyes darkened.
"Yes," she added, watching him warily. "With- with my book. Scroll. Whatever."
Sesshoumaru glanced at the gold inscription. It glinted innocently in the sharp light.
"Ah, yes. Interesting choice of reading material. Though I confess I wonder why you think this particular scroll is conducive to sleep. It never had that effect on me. Quite the contrary."
Kagome blanched. And then she blushed so violently that for a moment Sesshoumaru feared she might self-combust. And then she looked… intrigued.
"It- it did? I mean, it didn't?"
"Not particularly. Allow me to demonstrate."
Sesshoumaru pounced.
"Mmmph!"
The kiss was everything a first kiss should be. It was hard and soft and damp and clumsy and then it just was.
Kagome was kissing him back. Hard.
Sesshoumaru stopped thinking. He stopped breathing.
At first Kagome had been startled and unresponsive, but now she was clutching at his shoulders and now and again she would give a little moan that would surge like fire through his blood, and lick deeper into his mouth.
Sesshoumaru filled his hands with her. He cupped the firm, rounded globes of her bottom, delighting in her strangled squeak. He ran his palm up her ribcage, avoiding her breast through sheer willpower, but she melted into him anyway and whimpered, and he was lost.
Kagome dug her short, blunt nails into his neck, urging him even closer. He stroked her narrow waist and tried to plan. Kagome protested the softening kiss with a growl; he caressed the satiny skin of her hip to calm her down. The lumpy, soft fabric of her clothes was a nuisance, tangling in his fingers and obscuring the elegant line of Kagome's slim waist. Several delicate claw slashes later Kagome's torso was beautifully bare and bits of bunny were raining to the ground.
Sesshoumaru pressed Kagome into the paneled wall. Then he bit her lower lip to distract himself from the feeling of her naked breasts pressing into his chest and tried again, in vain, to think.
Kagome shimmied demandingly, drawing a groan from him.
"Miko," he admonished, half out of his mind with lust.
"Kagome," she told him breathily. "More kissing, less talking."
He considered her. "I never thought you would be so bold," he said. "Kagome."
And it was wreaking havoc on his capacity for rational thought, he mused happily.
"I'm not bold, I'm desperate," she muttered, and before she could second-guess that remark Sesshoumaru was kissing her again.
"You are beautiful," he told her seriously, because it was the truth. Here, caught between dark and light, the pale glow of the Shikon illuminating her skin from within, she was a goddess. He felt drunk.
Kagome bit her lip, her eyes now suspiciously wet, and touched his face.
The scalding wash of emotion he felt then was too sharp and overwhelming to be acknowledged. Sesshoumaru touched his lips to Kagome's hair so that he wouldn't have to look into her eyes.
"I shall compliment Jaken tomorrow on the success of his mating song," he said therefore, hoarsely, and as caught Kagome's outraged gasp with his mouth, he found that he was smiling.
::fin