Prompt "So there I was, like, COVERED in hot oil.."
Inuyasha sat with his back against the glass in the ballet studio, a cool bottle of water in one hand and a small towel in the other to wipe his brow of sweat, listening intently to the story being told to him. A gentle smile gracing his lips as its teller waved her hands around animatedly.
"Yeah, I had to go on stage wearing this GOD AWFUL feathered headdress and Sango was in this little-bow-peep style dress and a bonnet and next thing I know, one of the live sheep goes crazy and mows over Hojo, like straight up takes out his knees, and takes a dive straight into the crowd!" Kagome laughed, unscrewing her own bottle of water and taking a sip.
Inuyasha let out a snort and fiddled with the towels corner as he pictured the ridiculous situation. "Does stuff like that always happen at the French Ballet?", Inuyasha asked, looking up to take in Kagome's relaxed figure. She was sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, gently massaging the tops of her feet. Surprising enough, her feet weren't terribly calloused or red. She seemed to take great care of them to ensure comfort in the pointes. "Uhm the proper name is The Opera National de Paris and.. actually yes. There were two other incidents in similar nature while i was there." She giggled, shaking her head as a smile spread across her lips as she recalled far away memories. "Do you speak french?" Inuyasha asked, toying with his water bottle cap. He had noticed the proper inflection she used on the words and wondered if her year spent in Paris had yielded any reward.
For some reason he wanted to keep hearing her talk. Usually he avoided any and all communication with humans and demons alike. But with her, in this moment, it felt magical. Here she was, like a celestial being, her skin baring a slight glint from their impromptu dance session. And her voice rubbed against his canine ears like a soothing balm to his soul. He didnt want to leave and break the spell. So the best way was to keep her talking.
"Juste un peu. Assez de passer." Kagome smirked, holding up her thumb and forefinger an inch apart and squinting her eyes for emphasis. "Did you just say you had to go poo? Cause we just officially met and thats hella nasty." Inuyasha joked, cocking an inky brow in her direction and allowing a playful grin to dance on his lips. At that Kagome burst into laughter, the sound dancing between them like a dandelions seeds in the wind. Kagome raised up her arms, stretching, and allowed her body to be taken back until she rested on the floor, her legs still crossed. "Do you know anything other than Japanese?" Kagome asked, turning her head to look him in the eye, her stormy grey meeting his honey irises. "I had to learn a little bit of Swedish when I worked at a spa for a while.." Inuyasha shrugged, shivering at the memories of having to clean the onsen and public showers and change the linen in the massage rooms. The oils had always given him the worst headaches. "Well do you remember any of it?" Kagome asked, her own eyebrow conveying her interest.
Inuyasha sighed and straightened his back, his eyes falling into a disinterested half-lid. " En unge spydde i badet igen. Var är desinfektionsmedel?" He asked, obviously drawing on past irritations. "What does that mean?" Kagome asked, a playful laugh bouncing on her words. Inuyasha watched for a moment as her ribs moved gently with her breaths. "Well.." Inuyasha groaned, scratching his head, "It means 'A kid threw up in the bath again. Where is the sanitizer?' Unfortunatly it was something i had to ask quite often.." he growled, shaking his head at the memories.
"My mom took me to a spa for my 18th birthday while I was on holiday from competition." Kagome sighed, shaking her head, her bangs shifting side to side as she recalled the event. Inuyasha watched intently, nervously picking at the towels corner. He knew how emotional he tended to get when talking about his own mother, and if had known his story would lead her to talk about her own then wouldnt have brought it up. "I didnt mean to-" he started, fumbling over his words. He was cut off by her hand waving in his direction. Her eyes were now closed as she recalled the story. "Its fine. I remember my mom and Sota and even Kawaguchi-sempai in positive tones. I honor them by talking about them. They impacted so many people. They deserve it.." Her voice was a whisper now as she drew her legs into a bent position, allowing her to reach her shin and touch the thick scar that reminded her of the day two years ago that nearly destroyed her.
"Any way. I was freshly 18." Kagome started, a new happy tone in her voice as she chuckled. "I was young and shy. I had only been touring for 6 months with the NNT" She acknowledged Inuyasha's cocked brow in question and continued," Thats short for the New National Theatre in Tokyo. Anyway, I still wasnt super comfortable with my own body in public. Hell, at the time i could barely change in the dressing room without turning beet red! But I agreed to go with Momma. I was only in town for a week and had never been to a spa before."
She re-adjusted to sit up and look at him, her knees bent up to her chest as she absent mindedly rubbed her scars. "So first thing they do is take us to our own rooms, yeah, i didnt even have mom in there. And the guy, YES A GUY, gave me a sheet and told me undress and lay on the table. So he leaves and i look around the room and its got all sorts of curtains and candles and stuff with mood-lighting. 18 year old me is coming out of her skin at this point but Momma payed for it so I got undressed and got under the sheet and put my face in the little holder thing and just tried to not die from embarrassment," She stopped momentarily to take a sip of her water and Inuyasha leaned forward, listening intently to this slice of her past.
"Next thing I know, dude comes back in and he's super awkward about it now. Later I found out that he had been told I was traveling with the NNT and wanted to relax and the pressure of massaging a ballerina git to him because as soon as he gets in there he is stuttering when trying to explain to me what to do. And that makes me nervous because I don't know what to do. So he grabs the oil and is massaging my legs when he goes around to my feet without telling me and his sleeve hits my foot and I jerk and scare him.. and his elbow hits one of the candles and wax splashed all over the curtain and goes up in flames. So he's freaking out and throws water on it.. and it explodes!" Kagome shook her head as she chuckled at the sheer hilarity of it.
Inuyasha's eyebrows were raised in curiosity, this really did sound crazy. He watched intently as Kagome sighed and covered her eyes with her hand, readying for the best part of the story. Her other hand gestured limply to the side," and so I'm screaming and the guy just sprints out of the room yelling 'fire, fire!' And so I just grab the sheet and run out of there. Well running and oily feet dont mix so i end up slipping and busting my ass and tailbone. The fire alarm goes off and everyone is outside and i see mom and the other patrons and I notice they are all in robes.. and I'm in a sheet. And then I notice a different kind of burning. The dude has apparently grabbed a heating oil… so there i was ,like, COVERED in hot oil and wrapped in a sheet and the media shows up. I get a microphone shoved in my face and cameras are flashing next thing I know I'm on every tabloid this side of Tokyo with a shot of very unflattering side boob and a whole ass cheek completely covered in oil.." Inuyasha burst into laughter at that because he suddenly recalled that exact picture.
It had been less than flattering because of the flash on the oil and her shocked face paired with the large purple bruise on her butt. Not to mention her hair had looked like a birds best from the bun. The article had read "Local ballet prodigy from the New National Theatre Ballet, Higurashi Kagome, gets herself into a slippery situation while on Holliday"
" I looked like a bruised oil slick." Kagome groaned, flopping back onto her back remembering the PR nightmare the week following the incident had been.
Inuyasha smiled gently and took in the woman infront of him who had opened up to him tonight. Usually she held herself with such poise and grace. Her stoic demeanor in the studio seemed intimidating to those unaware of the carefree and gentle woman beneath the surface. But he looked at her now, laughing and blushing at an embarrassing memory and saw so much more. He wanted this. He wanted the carefree easiness that came when talking to her. He wanted her to laugh, because damn it if it didn't brighten his world. Taking a breath, he readied himself for his next words. His heart fluttered in his chest and his cheeks and inner ears reddened as he shrugged his shoulders, averting his eyes.
"…a cute bruised oil slick."