Sesshomaru looked at the messy room around him. Papers and scrolls were scattered everywhere. Looking down at the piled up paperwork in front of him, he knew that he had a desk, somewhere underneath this disaster. Even more papers and scrolls were everywhere; some of them dangled over the side while a few had rips and tears in it. Each one contained different strategies, different battle plans, alternate routes to avoid territorial issues and others that were seriously enough to give anyone a migraine. The only clean spot was a little corner were in an hour or so Rin just placed a large pie.

Normally she would bring a pot of tea, and some freshly made sushi, or onigiri. Rin had explicitly ordered him to keep that corner clear for food and drinks. One of the first things she had done as Lady of the West was make sure he didn't skip meals. Youkai didn't need to eat often, going hunting once a month was enough, and even that could be stretched to two or three if needed. Rin however would have none of that. If he didn't hunt, he would be eating a light meal three times a day, that was probably the only down side of taking a medic as his mate, but he had found since Rin entered his family, and took her place by his side, his mental ability was much better. Maybe eating regularly did have it's benefits but…he was certain he didn't want to touch the abomination in front of him…

"Please, Sesshomaru-sama? Rin made it herself." Her red lips looked demure in this state, the same shade as the cherries baked into the crust of the warm pastry concoction. However Sesshomaru would much prefer the pot of misou soup her maid had handed her before bowing out. "You don't have to try it, Rin mean, if you don't want to. Rin just wanted to see if you would at least taste it..." Sesshomaru knew when she, talked in that soft demure tone, put on an innocent act and talked in third person it was to get what she wanted. And it worked. He wasn't going to fall for it this time though not if it meant eating that horrendous thing humans call dessert.

"As much as this one would love to, Rin, this one has to get through these documents, thus could not properly sample your handiwork" She didn't budge. Sighing Rin plopped the pie onto the table, looking at him expectantly. Sesshomaru then figured that he was only going to get out of this two ways: Eat, or…But he just decided to do the first one, and eat the damn pie.

At first, the bite of pie was warm and flaky, buttery like something from a sweet little pastry shop, or done by one of the chefs on staff. And for that, he was glad. But then he felt something tickle throughout his tongue, delicious but disgusting.

"Rin?"

"Hai, Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Exactly how much sugar did you use in this pie?"

She put a finger to her lips, as if thinking, and then casually said, "Um…Until I can taste the sweetness in the batter?" She raised a perfectly arched raven-black eyebrow. That explained it…Rin had an enormous sweet tooth…He would need a bottle of sake to wash the taste from his mouth "Why'd you ask? Does it taste all right? Take a few more bites for me, please?" Her eyes had gotten bigger, she knew it was a weakness for him, silently cheering in her mind. Reluctantly, he took another bite. It was a blessing he'd spent hundreds of years controlling his face, because that second bite made him want to wince and gag so badly. He wasn't sure if this pie was a prank or not, never had he tasted anything so awful. The scent of heavily sweetened cherries was clear to is sensitive nose, and combined with the taste on his tongue, Sesshomaru felt that 'sampling' this pie had to be the worst thing to have happened to him. What had he done to deserve this?

"Do you like it?" Focused so completely on keeping his face indifferent, he hadn't noticed when Rin came to his side. She had settled half on his lap and mokomoko had wound itself around her naturally. Rin was completely oblivious to the furry mass that she had been obsessing over…now wrapped around herself. Big inquisitive eyes were quietly watching for his approval. A big smile on her face.

He forced his face into a smile. " You did a terrific job Rin, it's amazing."

If Rin could tell his smile was forced she didn't show it…instead she bounced around the study. Mokomoko trailing out like a big tail, it looked right and he couldn't help but give her a real smile when she looked so happy.

"This one has to work now, okay?" He petted her hair as he hugged her, "Would you like to stay here?"

Rin grinned and shook her head saying something about needing to meet Shippo. As soon has she was out the door, Sesshomaru rang for Jaken.

The Kappa's jaws hit the ground when he was ordered to "find the best pastry maker in Japan and arrange for them to give Rin a lesson on baking"

Sesshomaru did spend the rest of his day drinking nothing but sake…Vowing to never eat one of Rin's pastries ever again without it getting sugar-tested beforehand. Servants remained mystified as to why he was drinking so much. Throughout the day Lord of the West just continued guzzling alcohol, not answering anyone's questions. He didn't leave his study until late into the night fairly drunk heading straight to his chamber, where he called Rin and shared a soothing pot of tea, spiked with some shōchū. That night, Rin might have taken the first crucial step to becoming a whale, by taking advantage of her drunk mate and his soft mokomoko.

...

Servants, Ministers and Generals later wondered, was the pie part of Lady Rin's plan to make sure the two had private time? Did she know Sesshomaru would try to drown the suffocating sweetness of her pie with alcohol? She was definitely smart enough, and brave enough to pull something like that.

A/N: Inspiration was...my still very dead brain and a colossal craving for anything sweet. Guess stress does that to people?

News: I might try writing a smutty chapter or two...any suggestions on how to go about writing that kind of stuff? (preferably without me feeling ashamed and horrible.)