Cold

Prompt: N/A

Universe: Post Canon, continues previous chapter

Genre: Fluff

562 Words

The first time Kagome had come down with a cold during their life together, Sesshoumaru had been beside himself. He had worried and fretted and fussed over her until she was close to losing her damn mind. (Her words, not his. Sesshoumaru did not fuss, merely show apt and perfectly proportionate concern.)

Once Kagome had started to feel better, he had finally calmed down.

The second time it had happened, he still had been alarmed, but had been able to be of use and had helped nurse Kagome back to health.

Now, when his mate woke up, complaining of a sore throat, he was an old hand at treating common colds.

He rolled to his side, laid his hand gently on Kagome's forehead. She sighed at the contact, her eyes fluttering shut.

Her temperature seemed to be up, but not by much, Sesshoumaru assessed. His long hair slid off his shoulders and whispered against the futon as he bent to press a quick kiss on that forehead.

Then, he got up and carefully tucked Kagome back in, draping his mokomoko on top of the quilted blanket for good measure.

First, he brought in the brazier, filled with fresh coal, and carefully placed it near the futon where he insisted Kagome would stay resting. She rolled her eyes at him but settled in with a sigh.

He gave her shoulder a pat in passing, then left the room once again.

This time, he came back with rice porridge, miso soup, warm honey and willow bark tea. He set the breakfast tray by the futon and sat back to sip his own morning tea while his hawk-eyed stare made sure Kagome ate and drank every last drop.

The first few times, he'd actually attempted to feed her himself, but his mate had soon disabused him of that notion.

Once the breakfast was finished, he took out the emptied dishes and then took a seat by the futon and unfurled a scroll of collected poetry.

He read aloud to her and she listened and dozed.

He plied her with more tea and warm honey, then settled back to read.

When the sun was starting to set, the room lit now by the flickering flames of the paper lanterns, with the freshly stoked brazier giving out a warm glow, all the tea and honey Sesshoumaru had made sure Kagome poured down her throat seemed to have worked.

He'd set down the poetry scroll hours ago and was now telling her a story from his childhood. She had rolled over on the futon, her head now resting in his lap. Her eyes were closed, her dark hair tousled over his thighs. Her brow felt cooler to touch, Sesshoumaru noted as he idly stroked her head. Her face didn't seem so pale either.

Relief filled his heart, and he bent down to press his forehead against hers.

In the begin, the thought of having a human mate, when knowing how susceptible they were to the various ills, had clutched Sesshoumaru in black terror.

But now, he had learned what resilience resided in the human body and knew that while Kagome might succumb to a mere cold now and then, she would quickly return back to full health.

And Sesshoumaru would be there by her side through it all, taking care of her when she needed him the most.