Kagome and Sango were making vicious demands when he returned. Come here, sit there, grab that- he didn't take to being bossed around, but Sango was far too formidable for him to risk it.
"First," Sango pointed between him and Miroku, "shake hands and make up. Sesshomaru apologized. That leaves the ball in your court."
Miroku looked murderous at the very idea, but he dropped his hand in Sesshomaru's, took a cleansing breath, and cast his anger aside, "let's try and get along, Sesshomaru."
Not on his life. He didn't like his terra-cotta smile or his glassy eyes, but a man so cold and phony could be useful to him in the long run.
"Sure thing."
InuYasha picked a place on the couch, him and his friends all huddled as closely as they could get to one another. Their shameless cuddle puddle was taking up half the space, but Sango didn't seem to mind. She laid her head in his lap, putting her socked feet on Miroku.
He wondered what it was like to be tiny enough to curl up in such small spaces.
"Hope you like crying," Miroku muttered. With the lights off and the movie beginning, he realized what a ride he was in for. The ghostly music, the cinematic waving…
He hated this godforsaken movie.
"I will actually pass." His attempts to wriggle free were falling on deaf ears as Sango dug her fingers into him.
"Scared you'll cry?" InuYasha teased. No. No he was not. The only thing he feared was ruining the experience with his bored snoring. She gets on a boat, doesn't wanna be rich, falls in love with some poor schmuck, and then decides to risk it all? Fine. He could sympathize.
But she was -without a doubt- the reason for Jack's death. There was no way around it and that flaxen haired jackass would have certainly survived if not for his foolish decision to hang around sniffing Rose's ass.
"More like I'm scared I'll start snoring midway," he made another attempt to wrench her fingers free of his clothing, but found himself failing miserably.
"Then get comfortable and go to sleep," Sango grouched, "but you're not leaving."
What a compromise. He was allowed to sleep in this hostage situation.
She sat up to allow him to swing his feet up onto the couch. Miroku was quick to tuck them under his thigh, "I thought it was just women with these cold feet," but that was the extent of his complaints. Sango found a comfortable spot between his legs, handed him a pillow, and then settled onto his chest as if she held the explicit right to find comfort in him.
He couldn't deny that he was fond of her comfort with him, but he could pretend to be put out by it.
The munchies from the oil set it before the movie could truly start and then she was dropping chip crumbs in the folds of his shirt as if he were nothing more than a tablecloth.
And to make matters worse? Whenever he nearly fell asleep someone dug their fingers into his ribs.
"Watch," she'd whisper and he wondered how he was supposed to stay awake in the face of such drivel. And -to add insult to injury- her body against his was its own sleep aid. Staying awake was far more difficult than she made it out to be.
He wanted to complain -again- that the movie was dull, but she was so enraptured by their love story that he couldn't bear to be too sour about it.
Another finger to his ribs woke him up thirty minutes later. Softly, she murmured, "it's kinda like us." A rich woman with an overbearing family and a poor man running from place to place- free and penniless, but content.
The only parallel came from their financial situations. He didn't feel trapped and he didn't feel like a pawn. If nothing else, Sesshomaru was his own man.
He ran his fingers along her spine regardless, humming his agreement as he readied himself to go back to dozing.
The next time he was woken it was because the characters were boning in a car. He was met with the same demand of 'watch' and he wasn't quite sure why he'd been woken up for the implications of softcore porn. Honestly.
He was getting the impression that she just wanted his attention. So, grudgingly, he gave it.
"This is the worst part," Kagome sighed, wistful in the face of their happiness, "the part where it all goes wrong."
That watchman should have never grown so cocky. If there'd been nothing to worry about then there'd have never been a guard to begin with. Muttering about nothing to one another kind of defeated the purpose of their entire position.
The sinking of the ship stressed the girl against his chest. She bunched his chip covered shirt in her fists, growing more and more agitated as time went on, "the ship is sinking you nitwit-."
Apparently she wasn't a fan of Cal.
He felt himself fading out of consciousness again. Even in the face of gun chases and sinking ships, he found Titanic to be unimaginably dull. He hadn't a clue how Miroku and InuYasha were managing to keep their eyes on the screen.
Snuffling called him back to consciousness this time.
"She said she wasn't gonna let go and then-," Kagome sounded to be beyond consolation as the girl rolled into the ocean and began bobbing towards the light.
His hand was drawn around Sango as her irregular hiccuping shook against his chest.
"And then she let go!" Sango finished, "he sacrificed himself for her-,"
"Then she just left him!"
The irrationality in the room was reaching new heights. Was she meant to drag a frozen corpse along with her?
He patted her back when she turned to him, "you wouldn't let go, right?" Miroku was in the background, shaking his head in warning.
"Of course not," Sesshomaru told her kindly, "I'd let your corpse drag me straight to the bottom of the ocean."
She smacked him anyways, "saying you'd never let go would have sufficed. You're so morbid!" But he could feel her smiling against his chest, finally done with her senseless crying, and that made the abuse worth it.
He was a fool to think it over.
Rose was dead- no doubt about it- and wandering the halls of the Titanic. Her reunion with Jack sent the two into near hysterics and he wished he could be anywhere, but that hotel room.
Even the Terra-Cotta man looked to be harassed. He was murmuring to the girl sandwiched between him and InuYasha.
"C'mon, Miroku! You gotta admit that's bullshit!"
It would seem that InuYasha had fallen prey to the last line, his voice was gravelly and choked and Miroku was left to console the two of them.
"No matter what… they were always meant to find each other." Miroku was far more smooth than Sesshomaru could ever be, "just how we'll always find one another."
There was nothing he could say in the face of such eloquence and so he wasted his time patting her back.
"Do you believe that?" Sango sniffled, her face was red and puffy, her hair tangled from rubbing it in his shirt and full of chip crumbs, "about always finding one another?"
He did. No matter how many lives he lived he believed -wholeheartedly- that he'd always find her.
"He may be on to something," was all he could seem to manage. Someone like Sesshomaru could not be expected to profess his admiration or affection so blatantly.
"Because it'd kill you to say something romantic?" He could hear the smile in her voice as Miroku took his sensitive bunch back towards the room the men typically shared.
He pulled a bit of chip from her hair, "it might." The last thing he needed was InuYasha mocking him for being a secret romantic. It would be an endless onslaught of humiliation that he was unwilling to bear.
She pulled away from him, squeaking as she tugged her arms above her head in a mighty little stretch, "are you going to sleep in the girl's bedroom with me? I wouldn't suggest staying out here. Those three can get… kind of loud."
He wasn't made for floor sleeping, but -if the choice was between sleeping on the floor and listening to his brother and his friends get it on- he'd simply have to manage.
"What's their deal?" He asked as he stole a cushion from the couch. It wasn't like he'd be able to sleep with Sango so nearby anyways, "are they dating or…?"
She climbed into bed, patting the space behind her and he felt his soul leaving his body as she dragged him in after her.
It was beyond him how she could be so blasé.
"They aren't dating in the traditional sense, but they seem to be exclusive to one another. It's why Miroku is so sensitive about all of this arranged marriage stuff."
She put her thigh on his, nestling into the crook of his arm. All the while he was seeing static- unable to breathe, unwilling to move.
"I can't breathe." He murmured and then she rolled off of him, laughing in the face of his sudden bashfulness.
"You held me for three hours, but this is too far?" She'd stolen his glasses from his face, casting him into a world hidden behind the clouds of his own blindness.
"Shut up. There were other people there, it wasn't so...intimate." Despite the darkness, he'd hidden his face in his hands.
He was too old to be this bashful.
"I climbed in your bed that night with Kohaku and you were holding me then too." She insisted.
Kohaku -last time Sesshomaru had the pleasure to check- was a human. His presence held him accountable.
"Are you afraid you'll be overcome by my animal magnitude?"
Partly. The rest was just senseless nervousness. Her fingertips breached the empty space and dug into his stomach.
She was having far too much fun with this.
oOo
Sesshomaru had been so sure he wouldn't be able to sleep, but morning came with InuYasha shaking him awake.
"Your mom and gran are leaving early, but they're in the living room if you wanted to say bye."
He wriggled into his jeans, offering InuYasha two, swinging nods, and fished for his glasses. Waking abruptly was not his strong suit and he'd give his mother an earful for not sending someone to wake him earlier.
"I have such a cute son!" Too early for the dramatics. His mother seemed to transcend space and gravity in order to bring him down far enough to hold him to her chest and kiss his hair, "I'll miss you so. You'll come and see us on your break, won't you?"
His groan must have been enough for her, because she set him free and refocused her assault on his face.
"Will you leave my grandson alone? Poor thing is hardly awake."
Grammy could always be counted on. She motioned for him to come to her side and her quaking, weathered hands slid beneath the long sleeves of his sweater.
"Don't worry about me," but she waved him off, pointing to the room he'd come from. Which meant he had to explain that Sango was still sleeping inside.
His mother made a big scene about needing to sit down, "I'm too young to be a grandmother!" He chose to ignore the fact that she was the main champion in the Grandparent movement. Father seemed content to see the bugger whenever the time came. Like a normal person.
"It wasn't like that." He muttered, "Kagome wasn't feeling well and things got weird before it could get fixed. It's not a big deal."
That changed nothing and his mother draped herself across the couch, "bastard child," she was gazing at InuYasha when she said it, "you've corrupted my dear son and I shall never forgive you."
Grandmother insisted on being taken into the other room.
Luckily, Sango was just waking up, "good morning." How was he losing his tongue over something so simple. He felt like he was melting when those sleepy eyes fell upon him.
"Mind your manners."
He cleared his throat and found something less striking to look at, "good morning, Sango. Did you sleep well?"
She hummed in affirmation, hopping out of bed and running into the bathroom with a chirped, "I'll be back!"
Anyways. Grammy was not one to beat around the bush. She had him take a seat and explained the things Sango explained earlier.
"I know we were hard on you," the feeling of her hand on his filled him with shame, "but this isn't the way. It isn't who you are."
He used his free hand to finger comb his rebellious hair, "I did this to myself and I'm going to fix it." The horror of being handed rehab pamphlets was a horror he never wanted to relive.
Smiling people in white jackets on green lawns. All of his least favorite things all wrapped up in one.
"I'm touched by your concern-,"
Pain radiated along his leg and it took every ounce of his self control to bite his tongue on the litany of curses that threatened to assault the woman before him.
"Don't take that con man tone with me. Say what you mean or keep it to yourself."
He scowled at her, flinching when she twitched towards her cane again.
"I'm not going to any of these places. I understand that you're concerned and I'm sorry to be the source of your worry, but I am fully capable of doing this on my own. A few weeks of irritation and discomfort and then it's smooth sailing."
Grammy was rarely stern with him and so when her words were not laced with sugar and acceptance he felt scolded, "-so long as temptation doesn't present itself. If you're so capable then why are we having this conversation?" And Sesshomaru didn't like to be scolded.
So he said nothing at all.
"So this is how it ends?" She withdrew her hand, her heart breaking in her golden eyes as she did. Being hard on him killed her just as much as it upset him and he was hardly being cooperative.
"I promise you, grandmother, I don't need these silly treatments. Any mess I get myself into, I can get myself out of." He took her tiny hands in his, "and I know you're worried I can't do it alone, but Sango is willing to work with me. She's a," he found himself smirking at the closed door, "really great friend."
"Friend?" She took her hands back, using them to cover her face in mock horror and shock, "where did Nanami go wrong with you?"
oOo
A.N./ My writer's block got crazy so I decided to rewrite 13. Only 2 people had seen it so I figured it was no biggy :)