Sesshomaru couldn't remember feeling any more uncomfortable then he was at that moment. He had money saved from the hundreds of years he had lived but that wasn't from any modern day job. He needed to think of something quick before she got suspicious. He knew that her hidden motive was to find out why he had left, rather than any real curiosity with what he did for a job.
"I work at a business pretty far down the road," he replied, hoping she'd be satisfied with a generic answer. He could just tell her the town where he lived if she needed greater detail, then at least he'd be telling her something of the truth.
"Oh, what does your business do?" he could tell by the knowing spark in her eyes that she wasn't buying his lie. The spark also told him that she was having fun playing along with his story.
"Takes pictures," he responded, thinking of the folder nestled in the cushion underneath them.
"Like a modeling agency?" she asked in surprise. It seems she wasn't expecting that, he thought with an inward smirk. Her eyebrows furrowed forward slightly before she altered her gaze and stared at the floor. Her cinnamon pools turned almost dreamy eyed as she continued to stare at nothing. I wonder if she's thinking about the time where she caught the cameraman taking pictures of her, Sesshomaru thought, she had looked so frightened.
"Was it something I said?" he asked, hoping to get a reaction out of her and have her beautiful voice circulate around the room once more. Wait, did I just categorize Rin's voice as beautiful? He thought to himself, this just won't do. Sesshomaru wasn't sure why, but he didn't like Rin's silence, it made him think about the photograph again. And for some reason that bothered Sesshomaru, and made him want to comfort her, protect her from whatever she had seen when that picture was taken.
She shot her head back up to look at him with wide eyes as if she had forgotten he was even there sitting beside her.
"Oh I'm sorry. No, it's nothing you said. I was daydreaming, I do that a lot," she answered with a laugh and waved him off; at least her smile was back, "That's sounds interesting, do you take the photos?" though she tried to sound interested Sesshomaru could sense her unease.
"No, I just look them over and choose the best ones to give to newspapers and magazines," he replied but paused when he felt something stir in him, a sense he had thought been taken away: his sense of smell. He could smell the scent of a demon in the area.
He couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the scent's owner but was grateful he could smell any kind of presence at all.
He grew rigid and felt Rin stiffen beside him, just as the scent grew almost unbearable there came a knock at the door.
"Huh…That's interesting. I wasn't expecting anyone over today," Rin murmured before she rose from the couch.
Sesshomaru's hand shot out and he firmly grabbed Rin's arm to stop her from going to the door.
(Divider)
Rin was surprised by the sudden physical contact, but stopped and stared back at Sesshomaru. His body was tense and his golden eyes were fierce.
"Don't answer the door," he practically ordered. Rin didn't dare defy him, he looked rather dangerous at the moment. Rin moved towards him, because, strangely, she felt safer the closer she got to him.
The knock sounded again but Sesshomaru didn't let his grip on her arm loosen. He even pulled her back down on the couch and close enough that their legs were pressed against each other.
"Rin! Rin come on it's only me! I need to talk to you!" a low voice called from behind the door. Rin suddenly felt relief shower over her as she gently placed her hand over Sesshomaru's.
"It's alright, it's an old friend. There's nothing to worry about," she murmured to him. His eyes fastened to her face and he looked like he didn't believe her but let her arm go.
Rin stood and quickly made her way to the door and opened it to find a rather tall man with long black hair staring back at her. His bright blue eyes fastened on her smaller frame and they sparkled in greeting. He grinned down at her before gathering her up in a friendly bear hug.
"Koga, what a surprise! You haven't visited me in ages, what's new?" she asked and practically attacked him with a hug of her own.
"Nothing exciting, but I thought hanging out with you would be a wonderful idea," he answered with a wolfish grin, but his face fell when his light blue eyes moved from her face to her guest. Rin could tell Koga had noticed Sesshomaru when he turned back to her with an even wider grin than before, if that were possible.
"That is, if you're not too busy already," he winked at her before Rin began to blush, "Please come in, and I'm not too busy to have company. I'm sure Sesshomaru wants to see another face instead of staring at mine all day," she teased, looking back at her house guest with a smile.
Sesshomaru didn't comment on her joke but still seemed uneasy and tense even as Koga approached him with a grin and an outstretched hand.
"I don't think any man could tire of seeing your face everyday Rin," he answered whirling his head around to wink at her again. Rin only laughed in response.
"You're always such a charmer Koga," she replied before walking over and standing in between the two men.
"Sesshomaru this is Koga, Koga this is Sesshomaru," she introduced the two. Koga's grin faded slightly when Sesshomaru didn't return it
.
"I don't think your friend is much of a talker, Rin," Koga answered before he walked over and wound an arm around Sesshomaru's shoulders as his grin returned, "I think we'll get along just fine,"
"Do. Not. Touch. Me." Sesshomaru hissed as Koga withdrew his hand and held them up, "Sorry, didn't know you didn't like to be touched," Koga answered but only got a cold glare in return.
Rin nearly laughed at how hurt Koga looked. Naturally talkative and friendly as he was, being told to leave off was news to him. Sesshomaru too was quite comical, he looked ready to freeze Koga alive with his gaze. Obviously the two men weren't bonding very well.
"So did you want to stay over Koga?" Rin asked as she eyed both men, awaiting a reply from her best friend.
(Divider)
"So did you want to stay over Koga?" Sesshomaru couldn't believe how easily that had passed Rin's lips. Was this demon known for staying over, and how long had this been allowed?
"I don't think your friend would like that Rin. Thanks for the offer though. I think I'll go try and find Kagome, and piss off her boyfriend," Koga added the last part with a cocky grin. Sesshomaru didn't know who the couple the demon spoke of was, but was glad he was leaving. He didn't understand why, but a strangely possessive emotion had taken control and he wanted the other demon gone ASAP.
"Are you sure? I'd love for you to stay and hang out," Rin asked, and was that pleading he had heard?
"Sorry Rin, I love you but I just love pissing off Kagome's boyfriend more. We'll find a way to hang out soon. Don't you worry your pretty little head about that," he added and gave her another hug before he was out the door.
"Who was that?" Sesshomaru didn't waste anytime asking her once the door had closed.
"A friend of mine," she replied pleasantly, friend or not Sesshomaru could sense she felt comfortable in his presence. A little too comfortable for his liking.
"Does he come over often?" he asked, trying his best to make the question sound as neutral as possible.
"Not too much, he usually comes to try and get info on another friend of mine. He's one of the biggest flirt in existence but deep down he's a real sweetheart," she replied. Sesshomaru kept his neutral mask in check, but couldn't deny the fact that he hated how nicely she spoke of Koga. He didn't know when the transition occurred, but he seemed to have gone from house guest to possessive boyfriend. He didn't like this wave of jealousy he was feeling over Rin.
"Anyway, are you in the mood for some dessert? I make pretty good sugar cookies," she stated and Sesshomaru nodded, happy that she had changed the subject. Maybe with the mental break he could gain some more control over this new side of him. He was also slightly curious if she could make dessert just as good, if not better, than her dinner was.
"And you're cute when you're jealous," she added with a wink before she disappeared into the kitchen. Sesshomaru winced, he was sure he had masked his inward turmoil.
(Divider)
Rin giggled to herself after her comment about Sesshomaru being jealous, but dismissed the thought. She really had been teasing him, because there was no way he could get jealous for her attention so quickly.
"Better keep your mind on those cookies, Rin," she advised herself in a whisper. She grabbed for a bowl under the sink with some eggs and milk from the fridge. She soon started and before she knew it the cookie dough was done.
She bent down to grab for a pan to put the dough on and spread each ball of cookie dough out evenly. Tossing the bowl into the sink she went to place the pan in the preheated oven, and let it cook for a while.
She went back to the sink to wash the bowl and start on the homemade icing. Though they could probably eat the cookies alone and be satisfied, Rin couldn't help but want to do her cooking best for Sesshomaru. She concluded that it wasn't because she wanted to impress him, but to make him feel welcome and at home in her apartment. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.
After the bowl was clean she reached for a nearby cupboard and searched its contents for: shortening, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Once she found all three she went to her fridge to get the milk. She measured out each ingredient before throwing them all into the large bowl and mixing. It only took a few minutes before Rin's masterful mixing skills got the icing just as thick and creamy as she wanted.
She grabbed a large zip lock bag from a drawer and spooned as much icing as she could into it before zipping it closed and twirling the edge. She looked at the remainder and couldn't help sticking her finger in and running it up one side of the bowl. Once her finger was coated in icing she stuck in her mouth before sucking, it was perfect! She beamed at the bowl before thinking about Sesshomaru, would he want some? An image popped in her head a second later: when Sesshomaru had licked the last piece of chicken off his plate of the meal she had made for him. She giggled again at how unpredictable that man could be.
She turned to look at him through the open space between the two rooms to spot Sesshomaru looking at that folder again. Her smile faded slightly, why was he working when he was still recovering? Couldn't he just call in sick or something? Shaking her head at him she returned her smile and called out to him.
"Hey, do you want to lick the bowl?" she asked showing him the bowl with the leftover icing. Sesshomaru turned to look at her and swiftly closed the folder before arching one of his eyebrows.
"I'm not that hungry," Rin blushed slightly before ducking down to place the bowl in the sink. She felt kind of childish for asking since she really couldn't picture him licking the bowl clean. She snorted at the image that was created in her mind, Sesshomaru savagely licking at the bowl and pouting when it was all gone.
She kept her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles as she went to check on her cookies, nearly finished, she thought. She went to the cupboard to grab a large plate and two glasses to pour milk in.
She checked the cookies one last time before she went to the fridge to grab the milk carton. She poured it into the two glasses and waited a couple more minutes before taking out her pan holders. She opened the oven wide before grabbing for the cookie sheet. She placed it on the stove to cool before going back to reach for the icing bag she had made. Snipping off the edge with a pair of scissors, Rin began squeezing out the icing over each cookie. She did a stripe design on each, changing up the direction and amount on each cookie.
After she was done she picked up a cookie to try and nearly moaned out loud when she took a bite, they had to be the best cookies she had ever made! She gathered all the cookies on a large plate before balancing the two cups on it before she made her way over to Sesshomaru.
He made no response when she approached but quickly grabbed for the drinks and placed them to the side of the coffee table. When she put the plate down he took a cookie and popped it into his mouth, and Rin waited patiently for a response from him.
His nose scrunched up as he chewing slowed and he took even longer to swallow it. Did he not like it? Rin thought before a horrifying thought entered her mind, what if he was allergic to something in the cookies or icing?! I hadn't even thought to ask him if he had any allergies!! Bad, bad Rin!
"Is it really bad?" she asked quietly, maybe she had gotten too cocky from his enjoyment of her dinner.
"No…its just that I'm disappointed that I was proven wrong," he answered after a time, and it seemed like admitting the statement pained him.
"What do you mean?" Rin asked curiously.
"I didn't think there was a way for you to make anything more delicious then that dinner was," he answered levelly before turning to look up at her. Rin blinked at him a couple time before she burst out laughing. Soon she felt her face turning red and she grabbed her sides which were starting to ache.
Sesshomaru arched a brow at her childish position, but idly reached for another cookie to pop in his mouth. After a couple minutes, and a few more cookies, Rin gained her composure and she climbed up on the couch to sit next to Sesshomaru.
"So, are they really that good?" Rin asked motioning to the empty plate. Sesshomaru nodded once and froze, holding the last cookie in his hand.
"Do you want it?" he asked and motioned to the cookie in his hand, Rin shrugged.
"I don't want it if you do," she replied, but blushed when he turned and presented the cookie in front of her mouth. Did he intend to feed her?
She looked from him to the cookie and back, but his face gave no inkling of what he wanted. She inwardly shrugged, figuring that allowing him to feed her couldn't hurt their relationship, and opened her mouth.
Sesshomaru stared at her lips for a brief moment before he placed the cookie in her mouth. She chewed and moaned in pleasure, it tasted fabulous. Strangely enough, it tasted better then the one she had had in the kitchen.
"Thank you," she got out after swallowing most of the cookie. Sesshomaru remained silent before he turned away from her and sat up straighter. Rin wondered if he zoned her out since the food was all gone. She brushed her pants quickly before she rose to her feet and grabbed the glasses and empty plate.
"We'll I'm going to bed now. See you in the morning," she murmured. Again Sesshomaru refused to look at her. Rin held in her sigh, just because a guy liked your food doesn't mean it'll change him, Rin thought, slightly defeated. She had hoped that his action had been a breakthrough, that maybe he would open up a little more to her.
She took the plate to the kitchen and then proceeded to wash all the dishes used. It took much longer then necessary, probably because Rin was disappointed. It might sound childish, but she kind of wished Sesshomaru would show some kind of emotion to her. Something that made him more...human.
Once she dried off the last dish she placed it in the cupboard and wiped her hands on a towel. Finally she had finished, now she could get some sleep.
She didn't bother to tell Sesshomaru goodnight since she knew he'd only look away from her and say nothing in return. So she kept her eyes trained on the hallway and refused to glance at Sesshomaru as she passed the TV room.
What happened next caught her by surprise. Right as she was passing Sesshomaru's couch he whispered,
"Goodnight,"
(Divider)