A/N: A fair warning for those who aren't comfortable with sexual situations: this chapter contains one. I will not go into heavy details but yes, there will be something in here.

Raised

Chapter Thirteen

As Piper recovered, the days had fallen into something of a routine with only a few small variations. Everyday, Kurama would wake up just a little past sunrise. He would dress in what she had come to know as a suit and then head out to work. As he readied for his day she would wake up as well. Though unlike him, Piper had nowhere to go. She did, however, have things to learn. After the second day of him going to work the brunette had found a stack of hard bound books on his desk in place of the ones she'd tried to peruse earlier. These books were in another language that hadn't seemed to have changed as much as others, and the information contained within was vast. Piper started at the book marked with "1" and continued where she left off each day. Of course, some of the information she had to keep cross-checking because even for books meant to educate they seemed to presume a certain base level of knowledge that she hadn't quite earned. These books, Encyclopedias as Kurama had called them, kept her days occupied as he worked. Every day when he'd come home from work there'd be a new outfit. Some of which took more getting used to than others. Sometimes he'd bring home something softer that was meant to be slept in as well.

Once Piper changed, they would have dinner. Then it was on to a bunch of different topics. From the immediate culture all the way to the elusive concept of globalization. She purposefully avoided talking about the fact that as she got better, her days with him trickled away. He, however, seemed to continue on with the folly of believing that she would continue to stay with him. Piper knew that soon she would have to pop that misbegotten idea of his but not having a tense atmosphere to learn was nice. Not to mention she knew beyond a reasonable doubt that she was going to miss him when they finally did part ways. Which was why she wanted to spend as much of her time with Kurama in pleasant conversation over anything else.

It may have been a little misleading on the ancient medium's part but she spared herself from any conversation that might flip that switch into being tense. And once the clock had struck a certain hour, Kurama continued with his nightly routine. He showered, a concept she had asked about early on and found it to be similar enough to her old habits anyways, before slipping on something to sleep in. As Piper had started to wash in the mornings there was no need for him to change the speed at which he washed. There was probably a lot she was already doing which infringed on his daily routine as it was. Like the fact that she knew he was getting up earlier than needed, sometimes before the sun rose, to climb out of bed. Piper wasn't a blushing maiden; she knew exactly why he was relocating himself earlier than his alarm clock demanded. Sometimes though, he'd come back into bed until the clock made those metallic chirping noises to signal the real start of his day.

And then the process would repeat. The only real variation came in the fact that sometimes the conversations at night came with demonstrations. There was so much to learn but it helped when she could actually use it. Which was exactly why Piper was the one cooking dinner that night instead of Kurama bringing it back. On her part, that was a double edged sword type of decision. On one hand Piper asserted a type of independance instead of him bringing back food to the den like a proud fox. His ego was insufferable enough as it was. On the other hand it was also a highly domestic chore she'd done five hundred years ago which could be mistaken as an intent to stay.

"I swear, I will bite you if you even think of touching that," the woman threatened him as she lifted her knife up from the cutting board.

The look on his face as he turned to look at her, standing right beside her as he hovered over the sizzling skillet, was that of pure innocents. As though he had never intended to do such a dreadful thing. Piper knew better though - it had been on his mind the moment the scent started to fill the living space. But if she could wait then so could he.

As Piper started to get back to her chopping, she felt his hand on the small of her back before she realized that another dizzy spell had set in. With how much practice the woman had, she was able to drop the knife instead of slicing through her shaking hand. Piper blinked and clenched her jaw, pulling all her power into her core and bottling it up like a stone. One that should ground her to the Earth which was not moving any faster than it normally was no matter what her vision said. The medium relied on Kurama's help to keep her balance only so long as it took for her to push herself forward and grip the counter.

It didn't take too long for the dizzy spell to leave Piper to return to her cutting task. As she finished with each section she tossed it into the skillet. Small specks of food was scattered about over the cutting board which had been set across the sink to have enough space to work. The rice continued to cook beside her in the rice cooker. Piper was still getting used to that piece of technology but it seemed to be easier to understand and manage than some other pieces she'd been introduced to. Which was probably why the dinner was finished with relative ease. Well, other than her having to be on the lookout for Kurama trying to sample everything before it was done. That was something she was used to, oddly enough, but that still didn't mean she liked when it happened. He might try to pull off the innocent act but she had seen it enough times to know better and for it to have lost it's amusing appeal.

Finally Piper served dinner and sat down at the round table. Kurama looked down at the food and smiled; it was small but the warmth reached his eyes. That was the type of look she'd been hoping wouldn't come up, though a large part of her knew it would. The feisty brunette had wanted to show him that the recover was going well and wipe that smug, providing look off his face even if was subtle in nature. But apparently all she had done was fill in a missing piece of his life. Which she knew might happen but damn it there was no winning with him.

As he sat down, Kurama brought up a new piece of news. "I will not be going to work for the next few days."

Piper looked at him trying to figure out a simple questions of 'Why and How'? Though the first part of the answer for that question she knew. With showing more sign of independence, Piper showed him that she was getting better. He had vowed to make her a less than honorable woman by the time that she recovered because he didn't want her to return to Demon World. Which meant that he no doubt wanted to show her more wonders of his so called society and to do that he'd have to have more time. It was the second part of the answer that she hadn't been able to work out just yet. How was he able to not go to work for a few days?

"I have decided to use my vacation and sick days from work," he supplied, surmising what she'd asked with just a look.

"People are allowed to take days off of work?"

Well, apparently they'd found the topic for the night. As Kurama explained the ins and outs of the standard work week and year, they continued to eat the meal. Piper could see a level of exhaustion in him that she'd noticing for the last few days. It was in the small things - the long pauses and slow motor movements. It was as if he was trying to conserve his energy for an emergency because he knew he wasn't at his peak. The medium made no mention of her observations because she knew he was slowly exhausting himself by the reduction in his sleeping hours as he rose up hours before the alarm clock. Instead the conversation twisted its way into an economic stance as well as the talk became about this concept called salaries. Piper understood wages, of course, but there was still so much to learn about what was considered standard in this new world. And she understood that everything she learned could sort of be applied everywhere but mostly she was learning regional knowledge. If she wanted to wander around the Earth there was a lot more than she even knew she would have to know. Still, Piper's understanding of the modern world was getting better by the day.

After dinner while Kurama went to wash up, she cleaned up. Getting used to water being so easily accessable was probably going to take a while but Piper loved the fact that it existed. The ability to have hot or cold water by merely turning something was wonderful beyond comprehension. It made the task of cleaning something up almost fun. As fun as cleaning anything could be at least. By the time that Kurama got out of the shower and into bed she was already between the sheets.

Tiredly she fussed when she felt him slip chilled hands around her stomach because she knew in that moment of clarity that his feet were soon to follow. Piper was right. She could practically feel him grinning wickedly against her head as she squirmed, trying to retain her own warmth. Considering the fact that his bed was, by whatever standards had been set down, only supposed to be big enough for one person there wasn't much room for her to escape him. Much less when he refused to let her inch away at all.

"Hnn, Kurama, not fair," Piper whined quietly, her feet still trying to squirm away from his.

He said nothing though he allowed her the freedom to move her feet away. His hands, however, seemed to have no intention of moving. She contended with that, wrapping her hands around his in an attempt to warm them back up as quickly as she could. Despite the fact that Piper knew it was eventually going to be too warm once the sun started to rise, she still didn't want to be cold while she tried to sleep. After a few moments, the brunette navigated her way around so that she was able to tucked her head against his chest.

The serenity of sleep took it's time to find her; it would have taken even longer to overtake Kurama's active mind. When sleep finally engulfed her, Piper's body completely relaxed - losing even the slight tension that was a natural part of being alive. Dreams were an unguarded part of her night and though she wouldn't remember them when she suddenly awoke before the alarm clock, they had been soothing.

Piper blinked in the blurry light of extremely early day. The lights from outside, the ones that the city kept lit, gave the room a barely there, gentle glow. Just enough for her to see Kurama's silhouette as he sat up in bed. She murmured something nonsensical and pretty much inaudible. Her body lagged behind her mind, the disconnect making it hard to form works from her mouth or to move any of the limbs. Not that Piper couldn't do it if she tried. It just wasn't as though she'd woken up in a situation of danger. So Piper had no true reason to push herself into an active state of alertness. Kurama half turned back around to he and mumbled something back towards her. She was pretty sure that he said 'it's alright' but the grip of sleep still made everything a bit fuzzy.

Kurama stood up from the bed after he turned back around. Piper reached out and very loosely threaded her fingers through his long red hair. The texture was, in one way, silkier than his silver hair. And in another way it was fluffier. But that was mostly because it was human hair instead of fox. The silver hair on his head had always been of the same feeling as the coat he put on when he reverted back to a truer rendering of himself. Or, rather, what used to be the true interpretation. As he paused she moved her sluggish body, waking herself up as quickly as she could without the need contemplate being in danger. Piper moved to the edge of the bed and sat up, opening her legs so that you could wrap them loosely around the front of his. Kurama looked back to her with a bit of surprise, his green eyes widening as he stared at her best he could from the angle.

What really made his eyes open wide was when Piper moved her hands around his waistband and slipped them into the front. There was only a singular layer protecting his skin from the night air that she had invaded without warning. The woman scooted forward onto the bed, pressing her cheek into his spine, as her hands gently moved along the erection he'd sported since before he woke up. Kurama's whole body tensed up but considering the fact that he hadn't tried to push her away yet, she guessed her actions weren't unwelcomed. Piper's fingers danced over the ridges, every formation was new to her just like everything else about this body of his. When she felt his hands grip her forearms, Piper paused in her ministrations.

"You're still recovering," he spoke out in a tightly controlled voice.

The lilac eyed woman smiled slightly against the soft fabric of his shirt. Instead of instantly answering him verbally, Piper gently squeezed with one hand and ran a singular finger up and down with the other. And though she couldn't see the reaction, she certain felt his hair brush along her face when he tilted his head back.

"I am recovered enough for this," her words were still slow and husky after being asleep, but they were much more developed than they had been moments ago.

Kurama's hands slid down from her forearms to slowly untangle her fingers. It only took a moment until he had turned around and started to lay Piper back down on the bed. The feeling of lust echoed between the spiritual bond as he lifted one knee back up onto the bed. The redhead's fingers intertwined with hers as he moved, but she stopped him before he'd fully climbed back up.

"Just you tonight," were the three words that fell from her lips before she elaborated. "I'm recovered enough for just you tonight."

Kurama paused and searched Piper's face. He seemed to want to negate that idea. She used her connection with their hands to push back his torso so that he was standing just at the edge of the bed. Piper's legs once again wrapped around him, this time her feet pressed against the back of his calves. His hands covered her's as she placed them on his hips. Or they were until she slid down his bedtime pants. Kurama stepped out of them without blinking, as though it was a casual movement. Much in the same way that Piper did when she pressed her lips against tightly pulled flesh.

He was different, of course, that was to be expected. But his reactions were similar enough; the kinds he used to have when she had teased him for far too long. Or similar to the ones he had when the two of them were within the first three decades of life. Incomprehensible, guttural sounds of encouragement were whispered into the barely lit room. Piper didn't tease or torment him tonight, that wasn't her intention and she made sure that came across. The seemingly young woman relaxed and made sure to be as thorough and as effective as she could so that she could speed up his pleasure. Kurama didn't seem to mind the directness of all her actions; there was almost a sense of gratefulness that preceded his release. And given the finishing position and hundreds of years of practice, there wasn't much in the way of cleanup to worry about either.

He stood against the bed, flushed. His eyes were shut. His chest expanded and contracted as he greedily took in more air than even he probably needed. Piper couldn't see the veins in his arms but you caught sight of them in his neck in the pale yellow light. Just like she watched his body slowly relax as he regained some of his composure. Kurama grabbed a pack of tissues from his desk to remove any remaining moisture. Then he put his sleeping pants back on yet he decided to place his sweat dampened shirt into the laundry pile. Once all that was taken care of, he rejoined Piper in bed.

"Now, go back to sleep," she commanded.

He smiled, the look more relaxed than before as he kissed the top of her head. His arms wrapped around the woman, slipping under the soft layer of her shirt and pressing into her naked back. His fingers curled for a moment, pulling at her until he was as close as possible. With how warm his skin was it almost verged on being uncomfortable but Piper didn't do anything to move him. At least not for five minutes when she felt him rising against her once more. She wasn't sure if you should be amused or irritated by the fact that he let himself get filled with so much lust so quickly that the refractory period where he should be idle was such a short window of time.

Piper pushed against his shoulder so that she could angle herself to stare at him. Or at least the best she could without pushing him off the narrowed bed.

"I did not come here to sate you," the medium told him plainly.

"I know," he murmured in what was supposed to be a soothing way.

Piper narrowed her purple eyes at him and slid her hand back down between their body. She was mildly curious to see how many times he needed before he could truly relax. This time she didn't bother with moving into a better position. Piper used whatever moisture he hadn't wiped off in order to finish the job. And unlike last time she didn't even pretend to be interested in clean up. Piper felt justified in that decision all things considering. Especially when he was pulling at her clothes and rising up again after ten minutes. She moved down his body and pulled his pants back off, folding them so the wet fabric wouldn't touch the floor when she tossed them on the ground.

"How long had it been, Kurama?" She asked, staring up the length of his torso at him.

He propped himself up on his elbows, curving his body so that she could see his face. On his lips was a mixed sort of smile. "Five hundred years, give or take a few decades."

Piper took in a breath and held it. No fucking wonder.