Silver Demons
by SkyFire
Hugs and virtual cookies go out to: Shi-koi, spiralgal, PleiadesWolfe, SilentTears07, Saphira1204, CNome, and Sivermane1! Thank you so much for your reviews! \^-^/
Congrats to spiralgal for being reviewer #200! \^_^/
Another post-and-run today. Enjoy! ^_^
Warnings: Eventual Sess/Seph (shonen-ai or yaoi, I haven't decided. We'll see when we get there. ^-^)
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or InuYasha and no money is being made.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Chapter 25
Sesshoumaru didn't know what to think. One moment everything was fine, great in fact; Sephiroth, his mate, his beta, was apparently just as eager to rut as he was, to judge from the physical signs and the overwhelming scent of arousal that was wafting off him, driving his demon, his feral side, mad with lust. The next....
The next, all of that was gone almost instantly, only the last fading traces of arousal-scent proving that they had been there at all, the other man staring at him with a look that was unreadable even for one used to not only seeing such looks but using them himself. Even his eyes, those odd pools of glowing blue-green, went blank, but not before the daiyoukai caught a glimpse of some sort of deep emotion.
It was enough to leave his own arousal and anticipation nothing but a memory, an almost-chill rushing through him.
What was that? For the first time, Sesshoumaru cursed the fact that he wasn't a social creature. Surely if he had been, he would be able to name the emotion he'd seen, there then gone again almost instantly. It wasn't fear or anger, the two emotions he could identify in any of their incarnations. He was also pretty certain it hadn't been joy or lust either; the man's body language - only slightly less indecipherable to the demon lord than the emotions were - and scent denying both.
But the lust had been there, shining through those eyes, obvious enough that even Jaken could have seen and understood the physical responses.
He mentally shook his head to rid it of the disturbing thought of Jaken and his Sephiroth together. Sephiroth was his! His mate and no one else's!
It had been going so well, too. What had happened? Something had changed. What was it?
He'd come into the room to find Sephiroth waiting, the air almost cloying with the hot, inviting scent of a man waiting to pleasure his mate. He knew that; his nose didn't lie. Sephiroth had been ready and willing, the heat in blue-green eyes matching that in reddened gold. His mate had been ready for him, for them, was looking forward to it as much as he was. He'd been relieved that Sephiroth had somehow found out his role in their relationship and accepted it so that he didn't have to-
Wait.
What if he had been wrong about that? The other man's last questions hinted at it. Had he, Sesshoumaru, been wrong about the man? Again?
Had Sephiroth been waiting for the daiyoukai so that he could push Sesshoumaru into the beta's position? Or at least try to, Sesshoumaru's mark clearly displaying his status as alpha to anyone who saw it. Even if it had not, he had no desire to play the submissive role; it was against his very nature. How could Sephiroth-
Sephiroth.
Sephiroth, who may not have held any title he recognized but that had apparently been similar enough to his for him to be able to help and advise Sesshoumaru as he saw to his lordly duties.
Sephiroth, who was all but his equal in strength and skill, who was similar enough in outlook that he might as well have been a copy of the daiyoukai himself.
Sephiroth, who had been marked by him by as much dumb luck as anything else. Who had seen the mark as one of possession, of ownership, until first Sesshoumaru had countered that belief in their argument only hours before, until Sephiroth had found out that it wasn't possession, it just made him mate and beta to-
Wait.
That was a kind of ownership, at least as the human might see it, wasn't it? If he had only had Sesshoumaru's words to go by, if he hadn't learned any more, if he'd known only that it marked them as mates... But he'd told him that it showed that he was beta to Sesshoumaru's alpha! How could he not-
Humans didn't run in packs, did they?
Humans didn't run in packs and so they would have no natural sense of alpha and beta positions. How could he have forgotten that? Then again, Sephiroth was so like a demon at times that he forgot that he wasn't.
So if Sephiroth had pushed the question of alpha and beta positions aside to look into at a later point, what did that leave? The fact that they were mated, and in and of itself, that term wouldn't tell him what was expected of him. Had he thought it gave them equal rights?
Ridiculous.
'...I want to be on top this time-'
'Impossible...'
'What? Why? You did it to me!'
'...Your duty is to obey...'
That was it, wasn't it? That was it and he'd been a monumental idiot. He should have explained things, but he'd been so sure. And without meaning to, he'd trampled all over Sephiroth's sore point: ownership.
But why had the other man just frozen, then? Why hadn't be become angry like he had before? Why wasn't his aura spiking, his glare impaling, his blows flying? Why wasn't he throwing Sesshoumaru's words back into his face and raging at him for the seeming-
-betrayal.
That was the flash of emotion he'd seen but couldn't name, wasn't it? Betrayal, cold and bitter.
Why was he being so calm, so blank? Sesshoumaru was finding out just what it felt like to be treated to one of his own icy stares. The fact that from Sephiroth's point of view he'd lied to his mate, had betrayed his trust, made him feel almost nauseous. Why? And what could he do to fix it?
Assuming his conclusions this time were accurate. Well, there was one way to find out. Sesshoumaru drew breath to speak but Sephiroth beat him to it.
"You said that it didn't mean ownership," he said, tone blank, one hand rising to finger the wound that had started it all.
Well, that answered that question, didn't it? The mere thought of having - however unintentionally - betrayed his mate was enough to kill the last lingering traces of his arousal, his demon, feeling Sephiroth slipping away from them with every breath, was all but screaming at him to fix it, to make it better, to make his mate happy with him again.
Now if it would only tell him how to do that....
"I..."
oOo
Sephiroth waited. Outwardly he wore his best 'Shinra Board-Room' face even as he pushed everything else down deep and closed the lid on it, wrapping the mental box in heavy chains and locks. None of that roiling mess of emotion would do him any good just then and he needed a clear head.
He didn't know what he was hoping for, what Sesshoumaru could possibly say that would even begin to fix the problem hanging sharp-edged and raw between them, didn't know if he could allow himself to believe him even if he somehow did manage to find the right words.
This was the third time he'd been betrayed by someone he'd considered a friend, though it was the first time he'd been married to one. Maybe it was the universe's perverse way of reminding him that no matter what he might want he was and always would be different, apart, and alone. This was the third time he'd been betrayed and if the first two times had taught him anything it was that he didn't care for being left behind.
If this was it, if it was over almost before it had started like he felt was happening, he wouldn't wait, wouldn't be the one left behind. If this was it, he would leave first.
He would remember - how could he not? Sesshoumaru was his first, and the first he'd found himself having all these strange feelings for - but he would leave.
Whatever he was listening for as Sesshoumaru fumbled his way through an explanation about alphas and betas and their individual roles in a mating with uncharacteristic awkwardness, he didn't hear it. He made the right 'listening' sounds at the right moments but as time wore on his thoughts turned more and more to what he was going to do now.
Staying was out of the question. If it was over between he and Sesshoumaru, it would be over. He would not stay in the other man's palace, eat his food, work with him, spar with him, or try to somehow make his changed feelings go back to being simple companionship. He would make a clean break, leave, and try to put the whole messy and emotional thing behind him.
Perhaps he could try to find that other group - Inuyasha's group. He hadn't been around them for very long but they seemed to be good people and such a mismatched group had to have some sort of common goal. He could use that; something to focus on, to take his attention from other things.
Then again, maybe he should just strike out on his own and find something - or several somethings - to slaughter. A group of demons like those who had attacked him that first night would be ideal.
Sesshoumaru finished his explanation and looked at his silently.
Sephiroth simply stared back, face impassive, mind made up, ignoring the little voice inside that wanted to do everything and anything to make it better.
Some things could only be bandaged so many times before an amputation became the only logical answer.
Sesshoumaru looked away first. "I'll leave you alone to think about it," he said quietly, almost uncomfortably, moving back to the door.
Sephiroth said nothing. He watched him leave, saw the door slide gently closed. He waited until the sense of 'Sesshoumaru' was far enough, until it had settled where the daiyoukai's personal quarters were, then he stood.
He banked the fire, then went over to the beautifully-carved wooden chest that held his few belongings. Stripping out of the silk clothing he'd become used to during his stay, he slithered back into his familiar leathers. His former uniform was tight and constricting after the freedom of the loose silk, but he would not be called a thief.
Done, he took a last look around the room that had been his then slipped quietly out the door. He walked down darkened hallways he'd long since memorized, then out into the courtyard with the hot springs. One good jump saw him on the roof and from there he took to the sky, rising so fast that not even the most alert sentry would have seen more than a flicker in the dark, starlit night.
He touched down on the other side of the village at the foot of the palace's hill, then started walking.
He hoped that there were bandits. Bandits, or a group of demons itching to attack a lone wanderer. He wanted to bury himself in a sea of red and soak away the turmoil inside with the sound of steel through flesh and the hot crimson spray of life blood.
As the miles passed underfoot and the night grew old without even a hint of a possible attack, he began to doubt that he would be so lucky as to have them come to him.
It was almost dawn, the sky just bright enough to cancel out the starlight but not yet bright enough to be of any benefit when he spotted the man standing in the middle of the road. His hair was long and wavy and he was wrapped in a pale fur that looked almost ghostly in the uncertain light.
"Greetings, Sephiroth," the man said, voice low and almost hypnotic. "I have been waiting for you. I am Naraku."
-
TBC...
There's a vicious rumor going around that if you click the shiny green 'review' link down there and leave one, you'll make an author's day. Don't know if I believe it, though. Give it a try and see! ~-^