This is a little idea I came up with after I learned that Kohaku was following Sesshomaru too. It's short.
• Italicized= thinking • *within asterisks= sound effects* • Ani-ue= archaic, polite form of "older brother"
Sesshomaru is with Rin. Jaken's off somewhere; Sess ordered it, so it has to be done.
Rin, like always, is picking flowers which are presented to her master. He stares at them, deadpan, even though somewhere, somewhere inside of him, he likes to see her be so happy.
It's the middle of the afternoon, the day is the at the hottest it is going to be, most creatures can't help but feel as though a nap is needed. Rin, and even the mighty Sesshomaru (he is a dog after all), succumb to the temptations of siesta-ness.
Rin sits very, very close, but not so much that they're actually touching, to Sess' right. Eventually she begins to nod off. Sess looks at her. Somewhere, somewhere, in someway, a thought similar to 'She's nodding off, cute' runs somewhere in his head. That faint thought surfaces enough into Sess, that he actually takes action on it.
He puts his right hand on her little shoulder; she's too sleepy to look up at him in a happy/surprised way, so she just allows herself to react naturally – she leans on him and closes her eyes.
Sess feels, somehow, more at ease. Rin, apparently, is still conscious enough that she is capable of speaking. And very softly, with innocence and love- -
"Thank you… Pa-pa."
Sess' eyes practically shatter open, hair stands, body stiff, then - -
He leaps up! And allows Rin to fall to the ground *oomph!*
Sess, standing, he is actually shaking. With a trembling voice, he has totally lost all composure, "W-wh-wha-a-at???"
Rin looks up at him, rubbing her head, "Lord Sesshomaru?" She's taken back by the freaked-out expression on his face.
Before she can speak, he turns the other way, and walks very, very quickly.
Rin- ?? Jaken shows up, "Rin? Where is m'lord?" "I'm not sure, Master Jaken."
~In another location~
After pacing back-'n'-forth and in circles, passing his hands through his hair, biting his lower-lip, tugging his collar because he felt he couldn't breathe right and mumbling obscenities for an hour straight, he allows himself to collapse. *Pwwff!*
Sess, limbs spread, stares at the clouds. Papa… Papa? PAPA??!! Aww Crap!! She, she, she completely, she really does – why does she see me as her father??!! He rolls over to his right side. Damn it! Now what am I supposed to do with her? He groans in that complaint-full, 'help me!/why?' kind of way.
~Some other time after Kohaku joins the group~
Sess' group is in the mountains, there's a hot springs there. Sess really needs to relax. He tells the others that he's going in – alone. After convincing Rin that she can't accompany him (although after staring at her cute, begging, puppy-dog-face, he almost considered a 'yes' until he realized that he just though of her as a puppy. A puppy…. That's what you call the child of a dog – a dog like me …)
He immediately rushed to the springs as soon as this thought came into his mind.
Sess undresses (sorry ladies, not going into detail on this, not the point of the story, perhaps some other day) and gets into the bath.
"Ahhh… " He allows himself to slide into the bath all the way up to his nose.
*rustle, rustle* Dammit! He turns around to see, surprisingly, Kohaku's head pops out of the bushes instead of Rin, unless… "Kohaku, is Rin also with you?" "Huh? Oh, no, she isn't." Alright, so I only have to take care of getting rid of one child. It should be easier; he isn't as adora-a- - - Why is that thought going through my mind!? In an effort to get his mind off those damn fatherly thoughts (Dammit!! Fatherly? Fatherly?! So I'm admitting it now!!??)
Sharply, "Kohaku." He's since come out of the bushes, "Yes?" "Why are you here?" "I, I thought maybe I could join you." "Didn't you here me say I wanted to be alone?" "Well, yes sir, but I thought, I… "
Sess is too damned tensed up to argue, he needs to RE-LAX! The course of action that would result in the least stress would be to just let the kid get into the bath. "Fine." "Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru!" "Just keep your mouth shut and do not bother me." "Yes sir."
Sess squeezes his eyes shut and sinks into the water until his head is under. *Bubble, bubble* Kohaku quickly undresses and gets into the water, Sess rises up to his collarbone out of the water, turns his head, and stares at Kohaku, who does he same. Why are there human children following me? *sigh*
He turns his head forward. Kohaku smiles and leans back. After a few minutes, Kohaku moves a little closer to Sess, he doesn't seem to notice, a little closer, still nothing, a little more, nothing yet, just a little more… crap.
Sess glares at him. Kohaku blushes and stammers, "I'm sorry, it's just, the last time I took a bath in a hot springs…. I was with my father." "And what does that have to do with you getting near me now?" Kohaku blushes more, "I, I, I, uh…."
A thought creeps into Sess' head. No… couldn't be. *sigh* He looks ahead again and on some impulse for some reason, Kohaku quickly leans on Sess.
Sess' eyes shatter open again, hair stands and Sess leaps out of the water, shaking. "Wh-wha-aa-t's wrong with you!" Kohaku gets scared, both by the idea of what Sess will do to him, and the freaked-out expression on his face.
Kohaku stands up, "Please! Forgive me, Father!"
Sess *shatter* bones *crack, crack* "…… O-oah!" Not again! Not Again! NOT NOW! He grabs his towel and sort of wraps it around himself.
Kohaku realizing his slip of the tongue, equally freaks out by what he said, "I, I, I didn't mean it!! It was an accident – I swear!! *groans* Please, I beg your forgiveness, Ani-ue!"
Sess *SHA-ATTER* He trips and falls on his butt. Kohaku: "I, I, ah! Forgive me, Lord Sesshomaru!"
But the damage is already done. Sess dresses amazingly fast for a guy with one arm and leaves as fast as he can.
~Sess alone, in another location~
He repeats as before: pacing back-'n'-forth and in circles, passing his hands through hair, and pulling it this time, biting lower-lip, tugging collar and mumbling obscenities for an hour and a half straight, then allows himself to collapse. *Pwwff!*
He called me Father!! And brother!! What's wrong with him? What's wrong with them? Dammit, these kids are getting too attached to me-e-ee!! Wh-y-y?? What do I do?? *long groan*
~He shows up to his group~
While he had been gone, Kohaku confessed to Rin what happened, and she did the same, so when they see him they try not to look at him.
"Do… Do you two, think of me as, do you really see me as your, your - -" *gulp* "Father?"
Rin & Kohaku, ever-so-shyly, "A, a little…."
*FAINT*
Everyone: "LORD SESSHOMARU!"
Rin starts fanning him and Kohaku puts a wet cloth on his forehead, just as the good little children they are.
