Sorry it's late, people. There seemed to be some problem with the site earlier.
Chapter 27:
Inuyasha was coming back down the stairs after changing into a pair of cut-offs and a fresh t-shirt. He still had not met Christian, even though he had scented him, and he was intrigued.
Christian was, like himself, a half-breed. His mother had been human, a cousin to the Chief of the Reservation that Tayne's retreat bordered on. His father was from the star race known as Tricon. He remembered that some of Tamisé's warriors had thought he was Tricon at first because of the colour of his hair. It would be interesting to meet another alien, even if he was only a half-breed.
The scent was there, again, and stronger. Inuyasha went into the dining room and stopped dead.
"Hello. You must be Inuyasha."
There were not many occasions where the half-demon was at a loss for words of any kind, but this was one of them. His mouth dropped open in surprise as he stared at the man before him.
Christian was – beautiful. No other word would suit him. He had been helping set the table and had straightened up when Inuyasha entered. The first thing the half-demon noted was that Christian was as tall as Tamisé, and as well-built. The second thing he noted was the fall of pure white hair. Christian wore his hair longer than Tamisé's, and it fell half-way down his back. The third thing Inuyasha noted was that Christian had skin the hue of milk chocolate, completely flawless in colour and texture. Bright sapphire blue eyes regarded him kindly as the Tricon waited for the half-demon to speak.
"Uh…"
Fawn came into the diningroom then, loaded down with two salad bowls.
"Oh there you are, Yasha. I see you've met Christian."
"Uh…"
Fawn put the bowls on the table and patted Inuyasha's shoulder. "Never mind, dear. We all said that the first time we met him."
"But I haven't said anything yet."
Christian began to laugh and Inuyasha bristled slightly. He clapped Inuyasha on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If you think I look like something special, you haven't met my father yet."
"And you haven't met my brother."
"I'm looking forward to it. Kirsty said you need some help with tactics?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well, then, I'm your man. But not until tomorrow. That was a hell of a drive up here. We got a flat fifty miles from anywhere and my shoulders are still aching from wrestling with the tire. I'm gonna plead with Kirsty for a massage after we eat."
"No need to beg, dear," Kirsten said, as she came in with the children in tow. "Be happy to after the kids are fed and put down for the night."
"Aw, Mom!" Ryan cried. "Uncle Christian just got here."
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt for you guys to stay up a little longer, but Breanna will have to be put to bed."
The meal was very pleasant. Inuyasha and Kagome sat back and listened, wide-eyed, to Kelly speak about the job she'd been doing in Europe. Christian broke in now and then with funny anecdotes. The two of them had brought back small gifts for everyone, and this kept the children occupied for some time.
"Let's have our coffee outside," Fawn said, rising from the table. She traded a look with Kirsten and Kelly.
"Good idea," said Kirsten.
Inuyasha was just as puzzled as the other men when Kirsten brought out a speaker from the stereo system and put it on the porch while Fawn and Kagome brought out trays of coffee and dessert.
"Just thought it would be nice to listen to some music."
Inuyasha took a cup of coffee from Fawn and helped himself to pie that Kagome was bringing around. He was listening in on a conversation that Christian was having with Tamisé and finding it very interesting when he noticed that the women had all disappeared inside the house. He thought nothing of it though, figuring that they were clearing the table before they came outside. He turned back to the conversation.
"Oh Inuyasha!" Kirsten sing-songed from the porch.
He turned. Great gods! What were they doing? Music blared from the speaker and at the first few bars, Jonathan turned to look at the women on the porch and dropped his pie.
"Oh heavens!" Tamisé exclaimed.
Christian spewed coffee.
Kirsten was playing "The Stripper", and although none of the women were actually stripping, they were prancing about the porch, waving dish towels and dancing in a mock provocative manner.
The three men watched the women for a moment, then turned to look at Inuyasha almost in unison.
"What brought this on?" Tamisé demanded.
Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't know."
"Tam – he doesn't know that piece of music," Jonathan said. "Inuyasha – what did you do today? That's "The Stripper" they're playing."
At the half-demon's quizzical look, Tamisé leaned over and explained. "Like those girls at the club – you remember?"
Inuyasha went beet-red. "I… I teased Kagome this afternoon by taking off my outer clothes."
"Ah hah!" Tamisé chortled.
As the song ended, the four women flung their dish towels at Inuyasha, but only Fawn's hit the mark, draping inelegantly over one of his ears.
Tamisé stood up and pointed a finger at Kirsten. "There's only one way to answer that, sweeting!"
He dashed past the women and into the house. He emerged a moment later with a remote in his hand and an evil look on his face.
"Take that!"
He pressed a button on the remote, and Steppenwolf's "Born to be Wild" began to play.
Jonathan and Christian began to laugh.
"Is it war, Tam?" Kirsten asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Ohhh, you betcha! Your turn." He tossed her the remote.
"Okay, ladies! How do we reply?"
The women huddled for a moment in discussion. Then Kirsten held up the remote and pressed a button. "Back atcha, you red-haired barbarian!"
This time it was "Mr. Big Stuff".
Inuyasha was confused. Christian patted him on the shoulder.
"It's song wars, Yasha."
"Huh?"
"Oh – just sit back and enjoy. I've seen them do this before. It's almost like a game with those two."
This time Tamisé answered back with "Faded".
Kirsten countered with "No Scrubs."
"Okay, sweeting – that hurt," Tamisé said, and this time chose "No Sugar Tonight".
Kirsten laughed. "I guess it did. Okay – I'm changing the theme a little. Kagome – sorry, kiddo." She started off the next round with "So in Love with Two".
"Pfff! That's almost too easy," Tamisé said. "Hey, Yasha! Remember that song I was teaching you the other day? The a cappella one?"
Jonathan began to grin. "Perfect! Or almost. Okay, Tam – start us off."
"You know I love you…"
"I'll always love you…" Inuyasha grinned. This one he knew!
"Even though the tears are fallin' from my eyes." Tamisé nodded at Jonathan to give him his cue.
"I still remember baby when our love was so strong…"
Then their three voices joined in unison:
"So go on. Go ahead and kiss him goodbye…"
The three of them went on to finish the song, while the others clapped in time.
"Take a bow, gentlemen," Tamisé said. "I think we won that round."
"So who's keeping score?" Kirsten laughed. "Hmmm. What next?"
"Tick-tock, tick-tock! Time's running out, darlin'. Forfeit?"
Kirsten shrugged. "Go on then, Tam."
"Kirsty!" Kelly said. "I can't believe you're giving up."
"Not giving up, dear. Just passing. Let's see what Tam comes up with."
"I'm feeling benevolent, sweeting. How's this one?"
Tamisé had chosen "One of These Nights."
Kirsten chortled. "Ho! I think I've got a reply."
She chose "Holding Out for a Hero."
Tamisé snorted and came back with "I'm a Believer".
"Let's end this off, shall we? The kids are getting tired."
"You got something, dearest?"
"Oh – please. How else to end off something like this?" Kirsten pressed the remote and "Save the Last Dance for Me" began to play.
Tamisé laughed. "Time to say good night!"
OoOoOo
Inuyasha came slowly awake in the hammock that Jonathan had put up for him on the part of the porch the night before. Being able to sleep outside had helped him considerably. He could hear voices on another part of the porch, but felt too lazy to get up to investigate. His sensitive ears told him that one of the voices was Tamisé and the other seemed to be Kelly.
Kelly soon came into his line of view. She had a mug in her hand and was walking towards the dock. Tamisé followed her after a moment, hands clasped lightly behind his back.
"So – how is it going with Christian, dearest?"
"Pretty good, Tam. I'm glad you wouldn't let me give up on him."
"I know it was rough in the beginning, darlin', but I believed I was right in saying he'd be a fine husband."
"He is, Tam. And better than I deserve sometimes."
"All that money helps too, doesn't it?"
Kelly punched his arm. "Nothing to do with it. But it did help me set up my own agency and I do have a lot more freedom to do more of what I like to do. He runs the day-to-day business for me and lets me concentrate on what I do best."
"So who's the new client, love?"
"Oh – a new clothing company. They produce mostly leisure and out-door stuff. Good quality. I was hoping to borrow your boat and you for some shots."
"No problem."
"And your horses?"
Tamisé laughed. "Surely. Charlemagne adores you, you know."
"Thanks! You're a sweetheart."
Inuyasha watched as Kelly stood on tiptoe to kiss Tamisé. The big alien put his arms about the smaller woman and hugged her.
"I'm glad that things are finally working between you and Christian, sweeting."
Inuyasha sat up. Tamisé had once referred to an ex-wife. Was it Kelly? They certainly seemed affectionate, and Tamisé had always said that he still loved his first wife. He wondered what Fawn thought of all this. She had not seemed anything other than happy to see Kelly last night and appeared to be on good terms with the other woman. And Tamisé was not being very discreet, embracing a woman not his own right where anyone might see. But then – he embraced a lot of women. Kissed them too – but only a few of them did he ever kiss on the mouth.
The half-demon sighed. It was hard to understand the alien's relationships with others sometimes. Tamisé was a very affectionate person, and Inuyasha could not think of a single person who didn't like him.
One of the doors banged open suddenly and Christian came out in an unhurried manner. He did not seem aggravated in the least to find his wife in another man's arms. When Christian joined the two of them on the dock, Tamisé opened one of his arms to draw Christian into a hug as well.
"I'm so glad that things are finally working out for the two of you," Inuyasha heard the redhaired alien say.
"Thanks to you, Tam," Christian said. "Fawn sent me out to get you for breakfast. She said Inuyasha was sleeping outside as well."
"I'll get him," Tamisé said. "He's up on the porch."
As Tamisé started to walk back to the house, Inuyasha lay down again and pretended to be asleep. He was not sure he'd fooled Tamisé when the big redhead called him softly and shook his shoulder.
Breakfast was a sit-down affair, which was rare. Inuyasha helped out by holding Breanna and giving her a bottle while Fawn finished cooking and helped with the children. He blushed when he found Kelly watching him.
"I'm surprised," Kelly said. "You don't look like you'd be good with babies."
"I like babies." Inuyasha glanced down at Breanna, who grinned around her bottle at him before she spit out the nipple, indicating she'd had enough. He put her over his shoulder and patted her back gently until she had belched out the air she'd taken in. He turned her so she could sit on his lap and see what was going on at the table. She grabbed a hank of his hair like she often did and cooed.
Kagome cut up Inuyasha's pancakes for him and put jam on his toast, since he had the use of only one arm. He gave a crust of toast to Breanna to gnaw on and turned his attention to his own meal.
"Yasha is just a life-saver with the kids," Fawn said, finally sitting down. "They adore him completely."
"He gives us horsey rides," Colin piped up.
"Yeah – and he lets us ride his shoulders and takes us flying!" agreed Ryan.
"Flying?" Kelly raised an eyebrow.
"Inuyasha has some psionic powers," Kirsten explained. "He's capable of tremendous leaps and can slow his descent somewhat by a form of levitation. When he takes long, running leaps, it can look as if he's flying."
"Well, we'll have to see if we can work that into some of the shots today. I left my portfolio in the livingroom, Inuyasha, so you and Kagome can have a look at the sort of thing I do. Although I do mostly fashion pics, I also do a bit of photojournalism on the side."
Finishing his breakfast, Inuyasha hefted the baby into his arms and carried her out to the livingroom. He put Breanna on the floor with a few of her stuffed toys and kept a lookout for her from the corner of his eye as he paged through the book of photos Kelly had left him.
He had seen pictures that Kagome and her friends had taken, and these were much, much superiour. There were quite a few of Tamisé in various sultry poses and nearly as many of Fawn. Inuyasha rubbed his chin and considered a photograph he was sure he'd seen before.
It was of Tamisé, Fawn and Colin who had been an infant at the time. Tamisé stood facing the camera, clad only in a pair of jeans. Fawn was facing him, but turned a little towards the camera, with her hair loose down her back. It looked as if she was only wearing jeans as well, although her hair could have been hiding a halter top. Baby Colin was held between his parents, sans diaper. Inuyasha had seen the picture before, and it took him a moment to place it. That's right! It hung in the family room of Tamisé's home. So – it had been Kelly who had taken it.
There was another shot of Tamisé, Jonathan and a dark-haired handsome man Inuyasha didn't know. All three men were wearing only jeans, and were standing with their arms folded, staring out over the lake. That picture had been taken on the front lawn of the retreat.
"That's Tayne's husband, Milan," Kelly said. She sat down beside him with her coffee.
"These are good pictures," Inuyasha said.
"Thank you. The next few pictures are places around Paris and Rome. Ever been there?"
Inuyasha shook his head. "I've never left Japan before now."
"And here – these I took in Ireland last year. You would not believe how beautiful it is there, out in the country."
Inuyasha sucked in his breath. "They're wonderful! But – I'll probably never get to see the real thing."
"So… Kirsty has asked me to put together a portfolio for you. We can start on that today. Now would be an excellent time. I'd like to do a few nude shots if you're okay with it."
Inuyasha coloured. "Why? Must I?"
"If you're not comfortable, then no. Here, let me show you the ones I did of Tam and Fawn. Fawn models part-time for me too."
Inuyasha had scrunched his eyes shut as Kelly turned the pages. He carefully cracked open one eye, then the other. Well – they were…tasteful. Nothing really to see, as he had feared. Kelly took full advantage of her models' long hair and had put them in positions that they would use every day so everything looked very natural.
"Here's my fantasy shots. I used Jon and Kirsty for a lot of these. And Christian too."
Inuyasha was struck by one picture of Kirsten.
"Like that one, do you? I call it 'Striking Cobra'," Kelly smiled.
"I like all your pictures," Inuyasha said.
"So – can I take your pictures?"
"Please. I'd like that."
"And while we work, I'll tell you about this job I have in mind. You can think about whether or not you're interested and let me know."
OoOoOo
Inuyasha had not been aware that having your picture taken could be such hard work. Kelly knew exactly what poses she wanted, but found it hard to communicate her requirements to Inuyasha. He, in turn, found it disconcerting to have a relatively strange female touching him and moving him into poses that felt so unnatural to him.
"Okay – let's try this," Kelly said. "How about you just move around, and I'll take pictures. It might work better than posing you."
And it did. By the end of the day, Kelly had used three rolls of film and had pronounced herself happy. But she was ecstatic when she developed the film and spread out the results so everyone could see.
"My client is just going to love you, Yasha," Kelly said. "I think you'll be very popular as a model, if you want to be."
"What happened to his ears?" Kagome wondered. "They're here, in these pictures, but not in these."
"Oh – I… airbrushed them out for those, but left them in the fantasy shots. What do you think, Kagome?"
"They're gorgeous."
"Here – why don't you pick one you'd like to have?"
"Oh, could I?"
"Certainly."
While Kagome tried to make a choice, the phone suddenly rang.
Jonathan picked it up gingerly. So few people had the number here, that the call was almost certainly of an urgent nature.
"Kirsty," he said, holding out the receiver. "It's Mavis."
Kirsten grabbed the phone from her husband. "Mavis! How are you? Where are you? What? Why, that's… marvelous! I think. Okay, but you'll have to tell him that it will take several days before I can get there. Well – tell him I'm on the other side of the world! Alright. I'll call later and let you know when I'll arrive. Ciao."
Kirsten hung up the phone. "Mavis says Sesshomaru would like to discuss a new arm with me."
"Who's that?" Kelly looked around to the room, noting that Kirsten had gone pale, as well as Inuyasha and Kagome.
"My brother, " said Inuyasha slowly. "My brother wants to come here."
OoOoOo
Okay, then. Credits for the song wars:
The Stripper - David Rose
Born to be Wild - Steppenwolf
Mr. Big Stuff – Jean Knight
Faded - Soul Decision
No Scrubs - TLC
No Sugar Tonight - Guess Who
So in Love with Two - Mikaila
Kiss Him Goodbye - The Nylons
One of These Nights - The Eagles
Holding Out for a Hero – Frou Frou
I'm a Believer - The Monkees or Smash Mouth (I say Monkees only because I'm a traditionalist)
Save the Last Dance for Me – The Drifters
I think this might make a good party game. What do you think?
