Calendar: still December, same day. You didn't actually think I would only give Sesshoumaru one observed conversation with his mate on x-mas did you?
I do not own: 1) Inuyasha, the characters or world therefrom. Those belong to Rumiko Takahashi. 2) the original idea that spawn this specific plot. That was borrowed from Shellbabe's Lost Mate found on FFN.
Magic Carpet
Sesshoumaru solidly slid the bolt home before turning to face the decidedly impersonal if plush hotel room that was to be his home for the evening.
Most hotels these days catered to youkai clientele. The biggest spenders and worldliest travelers tended to be of the longer lived species. It wasn't that humans didn't travel, they just didn't travel as often nor were their vacations as long. Recognizing this, most of the decent establishments for stays away from home utilized the special materials that apartment buildings felt comfortable leaving out of their construction. For this one night, he wouldn't have to worry about scenting someone else getting intimate.
The down side was that the rooms that were to be all his own held no scent of a single pack member. After living with pack again for the last several months, the absence of those scents left Sesshoumaru mildly uneasy. Having foreseen the possibility of such a problem, his mate had advised him to grab a few things before leaving home once made privy to his plans.
She was always doing things like that, striving to make Sesshoumaru more comfortable with his decisions and chosen actions. She would never tell him what to do or how to go about achieving the things he wanted to do, but if his mate had an idea how to go about reaching any one of his indicated goals the suggestion would be carefully, gently made.
Along the same vein, the distant female had even raised suggestions on what exactly to bring that would accommodate his newly reawakened need for the scent of pack around his sleeping quarters. He hadn't needed the help. Sesshoumaru was certainly inu enough to know what sorts of things would have occasion to soak up scent and keep it. And he certainly had a better idea of what his two roommates wore most often. But he'd appreciated her foresight and suggestions anyway. It was proof of her more than common sense.
It did not indicate what species she was (as his half-brother had suggested it might when Sesshoumaru's plans and needs had been discussed between the two). His sweet mate was ever considerate of the comfort needs of inu in general. This could simply be due to her compassion for her future patients and the extensive knowledge she was gaining through her studies. Or she could just be a good friend, as she'd had previous contact in a friendly manner with Inuyasha prior to her escape from Japan. Granted it wasn't close enough friendship to make it any easier to identify her if she didn't want to be known.
Inuyasha's scent was the easiest to transplant. The younger male's penchant for slob-like behavior frequently found various articles of favored clothing avoiding the wash pile. To hear the hanyou tell it, there were varying stages of clean. It was a gradation of filth Sesshoumaru's couldn't quite distinguish, but each was pungent with the younger inu's scent which was all that mattered for his purposes.
It amazed Sesshoumaru how long Kikyou would put up with the aromatic carpet of her lover's garments. Her compulsive need for some amount of cleanliness and organization throughout most other aspects of her life were strangely relaxed around Inuyasha's bedroom filth.
Oh, Kikyou did occasionally run through the room with a massive laundry basket and plethora of garbage bags. The flat usually rang with Inuyasha's cursed protests and creative expletive usage at such times, though he never went so far as to actually curse his girlfriend. The hanyou came quite close on more than a handful of occasions since they came to Australia but he never crossed the line. Kikyou's usual response was a rather robust sort of deafness, blocking out almost everything her hanyou lover said at such times.
The situation usually resolved itself with the determined little female fiercely removing every bit of dirt with her efficient vacuum cleaner. Typically, the hanyou picked up a couple lumps on his head as she wielded the wand to combat the dust that found purchase over the hat and boxer be-decked ceiling fan.
Sesshoumaru took great pains not to be home for the whole event whenever he caught his female flatmate reaching for the basket. As entertaining as it had proven the first time (and every time he'd accidentally caught parts of it since) the disturbance of dust atop the fresh disturbance of Inuyasha's piled up scent with the added noise of the vacuum and the vitriol spewing from his half-brother's mouth was a little much for his senses to take at one time.
Perhaps if Sesshoumaru had lived amongst the pack with Inuyasha without interruption throughout his life he could have stood in the face of such uncouth noise and bustle without issue. He hadn't and due to this anomalous living experience, the inu had discovered an appreciation for silence, quiet and contemplative. In fact, his nights out drinking and sleeping around were never a particularly favorite past time until he got to the sex. Then the pleasure was slightly dampened by his own refusal to cuddle any female that failed to entice him to make it permanent before they and he were exhausted by the physical activity. In short, he never spent enough time with any of his temporary female companions to find or receive anything like pack comfort from their presence.
It was probably another reason having his mate insist on living her life somewhere far distant from him was the best way to develop a real, wholesome relationship. There very likely would not have been any comfort taken from a female he'd simply seduced into being his mate and promptly there after only approached for sex. Sesshoumaru hadn't thought of it before, but such treatment would have left his mate in the roll of mistress or lady of the night rather than companion for life. There was little doubt that infidelity would've followed shortly. As his mate had pointed out rather cynically right after the fiasco that was his marking her without her consent: sex wasn't everything.
Returning to the present, Sesshoumaru set his claws back to digging through his overnight bag after the items laced with the scent of pack.
Inuyasha's scent was thickly interspersed throughout the fibers of the head rag Sesshoumaru pulled from the internal side pocket. The hanyou usually wore it whenever Kikyou got up the energy to force her lover to help clean up his messes. It protected his ears from the flying dust and other debris. Inuyasha was rather cunning in his effort to hide his filth about the apartment beyond his own room. So much so that it was a wonder that Kikyou managed to find it all before anything could turn rancid and fowl up the air with the scent of rot.
Kikyou's scent was more challenging to come by. She was exceptionally clean as an individual to the point that Inuyasha found cause to tease her about it. She changed out every towel and rag every few days, her laundry ran through the washer once a week and even the sheets she shared with the hanyou got washed as often. She didn't completely wash her scent from the flat, but the only things allowed to hold it were pieces of furniture and the pillows she used to sleep at night.
He certainly couldn't snatch up one of the couches to bring with him and Inuyasha would become quite unhinged if Sesshoumaru invaded their room to catch up one of the female's possessions. Even explaining the need to borrow an article stained with her scent wouldn't have helped him as the Hanyou was irrational when it came to his future mate.
Sesshoumaru couldn't really blame him, he'd probably be the same if he was aware of any viable male out to steal articles of his distant mate's property.
Luckily for Sesshoumaru, shortly before term had ended, Kikyou had come down with a cold. It wasn't so severe that she'd been sick for more than a few days, but it had been enough for her to miss one day's classes and laid her low recovering for a whole weekend. Inuyasha had built her a nest of blankets and pillows on their living room couch and tried to nurse her through it.
The boy was only hampered greatly by his wrong impulse to feed the poor woman instant ramen at every opportunity and he refused any suggestion Sesshoumaru made. The elder inu had looked on with slight pity for the green looking invalid, unable to do anything for her until Inuyasha was forced out of the flat to class or tutoring or some other errand Kikyou desperately sent the brat on.
Then Sesshoumaru would make up a big bowl of soft rice infused with leeks and leave both it and several bottles of water within his someday pack-sister's reach. Her silent looks of gratitude were all the thanks he would take. Interfering with Inuyasha's intended was a bad idea as well he knew. As he'd carefully planned it, the only evidence that Sesshoumaru had done anything for the female was an empty bowl, a full untouched bowl of Inuyasha's instant ramen and a couple drained bottles of water.
Sesshoumaru never planned to be particularly close to Inuyasha's girl, though she would be a significant part of his shrunken pack someday. He didn't try to converse with her beyond common topics of weather, classes and groceries, even though he well knew the hanyou's overprotective and possessive tendencies would likely calm after they were successfully mated. Sesshoumaru didn't know how to get that kind of close, but he would never leave her unattended to if she needed him. Ignorant though he was about a lot of needs humans had, Sesshoumaru had learned a great deal from helping his mate study medicine. And always she remained a source of information when he needed it, if he asked for it.
It had also offered him the much needed article imbued with Kikyou's scent. The little woman's nest had remained in place for the better part of a week. And when she went to clean it up in her first rampage against filth following that episode she managed to drop one small, pale green pillow sham loaded with her scent. The thing had fluttered under the end of the sofa as she furiously stripped the cases from the other pillows flung there. Immediately after, the pillows were redressed with fresh dressings from the linen closet and relocated to the bed Inuyasha had stolen them from the week before. Inuyasha hadn't noticed her mistake. Kikyou hadn't missed it yet either so Sesshoumaru had his prize.
He fished out the sham and intertwined it around Inuyasha's head wrap to create a rather ragged wreath Sesshoumaru then hung over the door knob. It would take a while for the subtle scents to circulate through the room. He wouldn't be able to relax or sleep until it did, but Sesshoumaru wasn't tired and he still had a little more work to do to make this temporary home feel familiar to his number one sense.
The next item Sesshoumaru dug out of his bag was one he never would have thought to bring if not for his mate. Not that he'd thought to bring the rest of it without her bringing it up, but once he found himself locked in, it would have become evident the missing scents of his pack were likely to be an issue. What would not have been obvious was the lack of his own personal scent from all the items in the room.
He could smell himself subconsciously of course, but his surroundings would lack any residue of his personal contact thereby screaming unfamiliarity. Even humans would notice the lack in small subtle ways. It was common, Sesshoumaru was given to understand, that humans found difficulty sleeping in new environments too. It wasn't quite the profound anxiety suffered by youkai that relied strongly on scents, but it did happen. His mate had suggested he either bring one of his personal pillows from home or at least the cloth covering off one of them. Each were imbued with his scent from nights spent in close proximity with a strong scent area on his person.
Preferring to travel light for his one overnight in a hotel, he only brought the cover of his favored pillow. With it in hand, the inu strode over to the bed and removed one of the fluffy head rests provided and dressed it in the case brought from home. Sesshoumaru didn't even bother to remove the case already containing the downy puff offered for his use. Once done with this task, he brought the pillow with him to settle against the end of the bed on the floor.
He wasn't anywhere close to needing rest yet. So, knowing what he knew of the time difference between he and his mate and the reality that for the first time in months he was free to call her anytime without interrupting anything important, Sesshoumaru was more than ready to readdress the issues his mate had unknowingly communicated to him in front of Max and Nonny.
Fishing the ever present phone from his pocket, Sesshoumaru pressed speed dial and raised the device to his ear. He'd found through the course of the afternoon's conversation that he preferred the illusion of intimacy talking to his mate with the phone pressed to his ear over the convenience of using the speaker phone. True, the inu could probably put the phone down and walk away from it into any part of this room and still hear every word his mate said without setting the phone to speaker, but cradling the cell to his ear was somehow more comforting. It was like cradling her voice against him when he had nothing else to hold.
"Merry Christmas, Sesshoumaru" her warm voice caressed him gently.
"Happy Christmas, mate," he replied cheerfully. For some unexplained reason he was rather pleased that he could be certain they were now both trapped on the same day. True, his Christmas was approaching its end and hers was just beginning, for the next hour or so they shared the same date, and that date was December 25th.
They actually shared the same date once everyday. This seemed more important than sharing any other day. It was terribly maudlin and a trifle unmasculine, but there was no denying he actually felt that way about it. Not that he would admit that to anyone else or even aloud to himself.
"So how was the picnic, really?" she asked him sardonically. It often amazed him at just how deftly she could pick up on little nuances in his voice in order to judge the sincerity of his words. His mate had asked that question earlier, in the presence of his hosts and Sesshoumaru had naturally censored what he said so as to avoid offending either of the Maxwells.
He enjoyed their company and they both had joined the rather short list of people whose opinions Sesshoumaru actually cared about. "This Sesshoumaru went out for a big steak dinner once within the confines of the city."
Her mirth at that revelation was contagious as he found himself chuckling at his previous predicament. "I know I've said this before, but I'm pretty sure that as long as Inuyasha's girlfriend is refusing to prepare food you can get nutritional value from that you could just make yourself a steak now and then."
Sesshoumaru snorted derisively, "That is Kikyou's job and I'll not attempt to wrest such a duty from her."
"If this is some gender rolls thing you and I will be-"
"This is not based on her sex and its difference from this Sesshoumaru's." the inu was quick to cut that argument in the making off before it could get started. "The kitchen is cleaned and arranged to the woman's specific preferences and needs. If even one thing were left out of the place she designated it should be..." he shuddered with his tone equally displaying his remembered disgust and horror. "Experience has been a harsh teacher."
"Oh, well. I don't know what to say to that," she relented easily. Really there wasn't anything to say about it. "I suppose you'll just have to muddle through as well as you can until the weather cools back down enough for her to be willing to cook again."
"Hn," was his noncommittal reply before changing the subject. "Now, what was it that really upset you about your holiday visit with your sensei?" While she probably had been anxious about her lack of speedy progress, his mate was sensible enough to realize that rushing through her education could someday lead to dire consequences for any one of her future patients. Sesshoumaru was ever curious about her motivations and what made her tick.
"Professor Miriam's grandchildren sort of..." she sighed. "Looking at those babies kind of...scared me." Sesshoumaru shot straight up with sudden alarm. Inu were by nature creatures with strong ties to pack and family. He could also recall in some of their earliest phone calls that her only problem with having pups now was her inability to handle the demands of pregnancy and subsequent child rearing on top of her already insanely full schedule.
"This Sesshoumaru was of the impression that you wanted a family – eventually."
"Well, yes. But in the abstract of wanting to have a family someday it isn't often thought of that the family a female will have, that the babe carried beneath her heart for months will struggle for every breath taken after birth. It is a terrifying reality to be faced with," she replied meekly. "When a girl thinks about the children she will have, the hopes for their futures, the wonders of who they will become are seldom ever tainted by the reality of those imaginary children facing the difficulty of overcoming their own bodies."
He blinked before considering what his mate had said. "True." Sesshoumaru, in his few idle prophetic visions of his future pack seldom considered bad health or chronic illness in the picture. Granted, he wouldn't be the one burdened with successful gestation, wouldn't feel the new life of his pups growing within his own body, but their life beyond the womb would be in his purview and he always envisioned healthy vibrant pups. "It is a sobering reality to be faced with."
"I'll probably get over it," she assured him. "Life carries on and every creature born to this world moves through it in unique but sturdy ways."
"Hn," he pushed the new breathtaking fear out of his mind forcefully. Hanyou were not the only children born to the world suffering from chronic and severe health issues. Pure-blooded children of every species had frighteningly high chances of arriving in the world with the deck stacked against them. Youkai children were increasingly born with the type of allergies that kept Nonny underground. Sesshoumaru had a couple distant relatives that were relegated to living permanently in either the antarctic or its polar opposite for medical reasons. They two were in desperate need of a change in topic, his mate wasn't even pregnant yet – worrying about such things now was more than a little premature. Sucking in a deep fortifying breath, Sesshoumaru moved back to the present abruptly. "Given that it is currently Christmas for the both of us, and we are both on the phone, perhaps it is time for the unveiling of gifts."
"You do so love to be present when I open your gifts," she chuckled before a rustling sound filled his ear as she moved, he assumed, to retrieve the box that he'd sent her.
"This Sesshoumaru will ensure that we both enjoy it a great deal more after we are through with this long distance difficulty."
"Next thing you'll be telling me that sex is part of every gift an inu bestows."
"Not every gift," he refuted her statement. "But it is usually the best part of the gifts that include it." Sesshoumaru tried to keep his thoughts away from the gift he had sent and how, under more normal circumstances sex would have had a great deal more to do with it. The last thing he needed to do right now was to lose control of himself and his insatiable libido.
"Open mine first," she called his attention back to the medium-sized box he had carried around in his duffel bag all day.
"Hn," as eager as he was to see what she had sent him, Sesshoumaru feared more that she would completely hang up on him after she got a look at what he had gifted her. If he had her open her gift first, the desire to get his immediate reaction to the gift he'd received might be enough to hold her on the line. It didn't occur to him that if she hung up he could just call back. "Lady first."
"Isn't that saying supposed to be 'Ladies first'?"
"Perhaps, but given there is only one lady in this conversation, this Sesshoumaru feels the alteration was appropriate." He paused briefly to let that sink in before pressing the real issue a little harder, "this Sesshoumaru refuses to even remove the packing tape from the brown paper this gift was mailed in until you have unwrapped and exposed what I gave you."
"Seriously, Sesshoumaru, I really want you to open mine first. I want to know if I achieved what I was aiming for," her voice was soft and sober, devoid of the playful tones that had characterized most of the conversation so far.
"Then you had best start unwrapping," if she was so anxious to get his reaction, all the more reason he should want her to go first. Anything that increased the odds of his distant mate staying on the line for as long as possible was definitely warranted.
Something in his words must have tipped her off. "What did you do?"
"Something that may or may not get this Sesshoumaru in serious trouble. This fact is up in the air until you open your gift." His mate had a funny sense of humor. Some things she just chalked up to male desperation and some things she blew way out of proportion.
"How the hell did we get this backwards?" she muttered quietly annoyed by his high-handed behavior. "People are supposed try and delay someone else from opening their gift not rush it." Sesshoumaru relaxed when he could hear a blade slicing through tape and cardboard. He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
The silent suspense kept him on edge as he waited for a gasp of realization or a shriek of indignation, anything that would inform him the moment was over. "What did you put in here? The holy grail or something? Nobody needs this much packing tape!"
Sesshoumaru's startled chuckle was breathless. He'd forgotten Inuyasha's over-enthusiasm with the tape gun. When the hanyou had heard who it was for, the boy had insisted on helping. Thing was, Sesshoumaru had already finished all but the final addressing and taping the box shut. Perhaps he shouldn't have chastised his half brother quite so sternly for the wasted tape. He'd needed the slight distraction as his brain kept swinging from her pending reaction to what she was reacting to and how his body reacted to the image the item brought to mind. He was no longer in danger of repeating that long ago valentine's fiasco.
A frustrated growl came over the line a moment later as he could only assume the female was still working to open the box his gift came in. "That does it!" she harrumphed grumpily, "I'm opening it from the bottom!" Sesshoumaru smiled indulgently, he'd personally done the taping on the bottom. There was definitely not an excessive amount of tape there. A sharp blade slid through the clear plastic smoothly. Her triumphant sigh communicated to him her success.
"Not much more to go mate," he soothed her, counting out all the steps left before he got her reaction to the hot little piece he'd sent her. Sesshoumaru was certain it was the right size given the articles of her clothing he'd received since their relationship began.
"Sesshoumaru," came the murmur. It wasn't the gasp he'd been hoping for or the shriek he'd been fearing. Sesshoumaru should have known his mate would find some middle ground to confuse him with. She was like that. Although...Kikyou could be like that too. Perhaps it was a common trait of females in general.
"This Sesshoumaru requests pictures," he went ahead and charged forward into the unknown. He didn't know what to make of her ambiguous reaction.
"Sesshoumaru," she repeated more sternly over the distant sound of his unwrapped gift being extracted from its packing. Silk was one of the quieter fabrics, so the gift itself was hard to hear over the paper and packing materials that had insulated it for travel.
"Mate," he returned blandly with bated breath.
"Open your gift now," she told him, equally as bland. And he understood her reaction now. She was punishing him in a miniscule way...maybe. There was still a wide gray area in his understanding of her mind. It was clear however that no more delay would be tolerated.
With miniscule effort he tore through the neat brown paper and tape with an internal sigh. The outer packing was apparently a very close skin to the gift wrap inside given that his claws tore through the festively colored thin paper inside when he cut open the tape holding the flaps closed on the box underneath the brown paper. Under all the packing he found a simple cedar box with a hinged lid. The unstained wood was decorated with a simple design burned into it, not unlike the scent box he'd sent her years ago. "Mate," he breathed as his clawed finger traced the bold lines in happy reverence. Even if the box was completely empty, Sesshoumaru could find no fault with the gift.
"It's not as elaborate as yours was," she answered without enthusiasm and he had a slight understanding of her reaction now. She's sent him a gift of deep emotional meaning and he'd sent her something teasing and risque. The gifts were unequal. "And it's not quite the same as a real scent box. I didn't have access to the necessary materials," she continued as he finally lifted the snug lid with a squeak of wood on wood. Inside he found small glass phials full of various unguents. "Instead I sent you samples of all the soaps and lotions I use regularly. I read that most youkai that rely on scent actually detect the individual components and identify different people by the unique combination of those separate elements." And so she had supplied him all the elements that she habitually used on her skin, hair, and suchlike. She'd even included, as he found tucked in a tight pocket just inside the lid, her own personal scent by including an article of clothing saturated in her pure unadulterated personal scent. In essence she'd reciprocated a gesture he'd made years ago.
Now Sesshoumaru felt like a heel. He'd gifted her with something he would enjoy more than she would. She'd sent him a gift that meant something to both of them, but more to him than her. Such was the point of gifting he supposed. He'd wasted an opportunity to court his mate by succumbing to a personal need to have her image.
Honestly, he wanted to be sure that the female who haunted his wet dreams and fantasies actually looked like the mate he hoped it was. But he could have requested pictures some other time. He could have asked for reassurance in some other way. Lingerie had never been his preferred method of viewing feminine flesh. Sesshoumaru had always preferred complete nudity to silky lace or under-wire. Not that his mate would have been receptive to photographing herself naked for his sake. But he'd skipped her sending him pictures of herself at all to asking for pictures of her in something a little more provocative than her underwear.
"I'll think about the pictures," she went on in a tone that told him they most likely would not be the pictures Sesshoumaru had originally envisioned. Not that he blamed her in any way. It wasn't quite the end to his holiday that he'd hoped for, but as he gently ran a finger over the carefully corked vials lined up tightly within the soft thin lining of the box, it wasn't precisely a bad ending to the day either.