Ugh wal-mart nearing its inventory date. Somebody Shoot me!
Now I'm no speedy Gonazles, but I'm no conservative Connie either. There are few things in this world that will make be drive below the speed limit on the highway. Hell there are few that'll make me drive the speed limit on the highway, but they do exist.
Lets see if you can guess which they are...
Will I drive less than the speedlimit for:
a) snow
b) ice
c)because I already landed in the Median and my nerves are shot and I'd like very much to stay on the road rather than having to wait another hour and a half for the tow truck to pull me out.
d) because I landed in the ditch on my way out of my driveway on my way to work the day after I landed in the median.
or e)all of the above.
If you guessed e), dear lord are you friggin' psychic? And yes, I really did land in the Median on the highway 3 miles from my exit. And I didn't do any of the classic things people do wrong when roads are slick. I didn't touch the brake to slow down. I was just getting over (SLOWLY!) 4 miles before my exit. I steered into the skid, like you're supposed, but there was nothing for it. I wound up 180ing it into the grassy median. ANd I slid in sideways so I couldn't drive myself out of it.
On the (hmm, ego-saving side) I wasn't the only one to go off the road at the time. One guy coming from the opposite direction wound up even farther into the median than I did and a couple cars behind me ended up off the road too. (that lucky bastard managed to pull back onto the road and continue on his way.) So I sat there and not 20 minutes after I got stuck, the salt truck went by. I wanted to hit somebody! 20 minutes! Rotten bloody scoundrels!
And then the morning after, my dad had moved my car so i had to do this awkward manuever to back out. (and a fresh layer of ice covered by snow that left me with no real indication of where our paved driveway acutally was) I manage to back my rear end into the road and turn my front wheel right into the friggin' ditch! totally ruining my attempt to leave for work early or even on time! I had to wake my poor dad up so he could pull me out with the truck.
so yeah, remember how I hate snow? Well add driving, Michigan, and Winter to the list RIGHT now!
On a totally different note, Chapter 3 of part 6 is done, now part 4 is giving me trouble. DAME YOU, DAME YOU ALL TO HEEL you fickle inspiration! Part of it is probably because I've been so wound up from my traffic adventures, I just can't get my mind to slow down and focus on just this spot in the story. It's annoying. Hopefully another night of sleep and NO friggin' snow induced crash tests in my future will help calm me down.
Wonder if Rumiko Takahashi had this problem... then again, the Inuyasha characters are hers, her life must be one long trek through World WAr 3 everyday. AFter all, there's no way all those obnoxious demons and crazy humans can behave for more than 2 seconds!
Unwrapped
There are benefits to being half frozen and near the point where hypothermia becomes a real threat, strange as it may sound. After all, numbness against physical pain is a rare and fleeting rhapsody that seldom occurs for people, youkai specifically, whose metabolism runs through drugs and alcohol quicker than the effects can be felt.
On the other hand, periods of prolonged numbness can hide the warning signs of muscle strain. A side effect, Sesshoumaru was coming to realize, Aki was exploiting in full.
The inu youkai mentally sighed as he watch her laugh, without a single wince of pain as her ribs were jarred by it. If she wasn't careful, she could possibly cause further damage. That is, if she hadn't already when Aki moved so fast to pin this Ayame annoyance to the floor.
Sesshoumaru could feel his concern pulling down at the corners of his mouth. Aki was forever neglecting her personal well being. This hair-brained rescue mission into the middle of a blizzard was only the latest example.
Not that he didn't understand why Aki had felt compelled to save the wolf. Sesshoumaru was coming to understand her a little. That still didn't mean he would encourage her to continue such crazy behavior.
Which is why he had already sent Rin into the room he'd claimed as his own with a few blankets and one of the extra kimonos. Aki needed to be warmed up before she had the chance to further hurt herself. Inuyasha's female could look after the ookami, he would look after Aki.
Sesshoumaru gracefully prowled through the milling four legged animals in varying states of thaw and dryness towards his future mate. Rin had already returned from her chore and smiled as she watched him. The other children turned to watch him as well and the taiyoukai had to stifle an annoyed snarl. Aki had turned him into paltry entertainment for the youngest members of their company.
The sooner he escaped the presence of everybody else with Aki the happier he would be.
Sesshoumaru silently helped Aki to her feet from where she had pinned Ayame to the floor. It was quite clear that the youkai no longer intended to harm them.
"Who would actually pay to have someone dry their hair?" Inuyasha demanded incredulously.
"You'd be surprised," Aki replied with a grin. "There are people who pay good money to have even their dog's hair cut, colored and dried."
"Not possible," Inuyasha scoffed.
Kagome grinned and nodded in support of Aki, "It's the truth. They even buy clothes for their pets. Sometimes you can't help but pity the poor things."
"The pets or the owners?" Miroku asked.
"Yes," Aki cut off Kagome's response. A person either pitied the one or the other and sometimes both, so her single syllable answer about covered it.
"Well, I think it's insane," Inuyasha harrumphed.
"Whoever said the people of the world were sane?" Fred asked with a chuckle.
"With you for an example it is easy to believe all humans are crazy," Kagura poked fun at the ghost.
"Hey, I resent that!" Kagome yelled. "And so do Sango and Miroku."
"A monk that steals, gropes women and lies and a woman that fights people that are twice as strong as she is, whose best friend is a youkai cat? Oh yes, that evidence for the sanity of humans is just piling up," Kagura teased blandly.
"Well, compared to a youkai that tried to overcome the fury of mother nature, a wolf that can't take no for an answer, a hanyou that hasn't learned how to avoid being sat, a wind demoness that repeatedly defies the evil bastard that holds her life and a toady that can't keep his mouth shut. The humans aren't doing so bad in the equation," Fred shrugged.
"I notice you didn't mention Aki or Sesshoumaru," Miroku commented.
"Well, I didn't want the humans to win by a landslide," the ghost grinned mischievously.
Aki snorted, "He didn't include me because then he'd have to include himself and Kikyou on the human side and you guys would lose…badly."
"Not if we count Aki on our side," Kagome declared. "She was human after all, it should count for something!"
"Kagome, my sanity isn't –" Sesshoumaru cut off her words with a hand over her mouth. The joking and laughter stilled in the moments following his action.
Sesshoumaru addressed the room, though he did not look away from Aki's eyes. "You will take care of the wolf," his order was soft, but it was clear he expected them to look after Ayame properly.
Aki had risked her life to save the ookami and he would be most displeased if it proved to be a fruitless effort because of their neglect. By the same token, if their attention was focused on the wolf, it wouldn't be on Aki. Thereby insuring Sesshoumaru and Aki's privacy while he looked after her.
"Of course we'll take care of Ayame," Kagome huffed indignantly.
"Aki's risk will not be taken lightly," Miroku assured the inu youkai.
Sesshoumaru barely nodded as he guided Aki in the direction of his choosing. His firm grip on her arm kept her from falling the two times her benumbed feet stumbled over the furred body of wolves that besieged her. He felt like snarling at the four-legged nuisances, but he didn't. He realized that the room was too crowded for a clear path through it.
"I'll bring a bowl to you when it's ready," Kikyou called after them.
"Hey, make it something worth eating this time," Aki teased back as Sesshoumaru pushed her from the room and shut the door.
"You're not going after them, Fred," Kagome asked as she helped Ayame to her feet.
"Nah, he'll take good care of her," Fred shrugged. "Besides, they probably need to change her clothes. I do try to give her privacy, no matter how much of a perv I may be."
"That's very good of you," Kagura mumbled.
"Not really," Fred grinned mischievously. "I try to behave so that when we argue for her to do something like eat or rest properly she can't use it against me."
"What does one have to do with the other?" Kouga demanded, confused as to how an argument would include voyeurism in anyway.
"Anything is game when you argue with Aki," Fred answered evenly. "And any woman who ever lived has a longer memory than you. They'll drag things to light from years back just to make a point and smack you up side the head with the surprise of it."
"Girls don't fight fair," Youta declared with emphasis.
Yumi whipped out and hit her brother on the back of the head.
"Girls fight to win, that's all," Azusa sniffed.
"It's rather pointless not to," Sango nodded at the younger girl.
"Nah, Aki just does it to annoy the crap out of people," Inuyasha grumbled.
"You'd better shut up," Kagome growled.
"Yeah, you tell that dog turd to stop polluting the air with his stupidity!" Kouga was behind Kagome a full one hundred percent. "We wouldn't want it to rub off on the wolves."
"Then they should stop spending so much time with you!" Inuyasha growled back.
"Ha! You wish you were as smart as me!" Kouga roared back as he leapt to his feet.
"If you had one tenth the brains I have in my little finger –" Inuyasha began.
"You would both still be dumber than a box of rocks," Sesshoumaru growled heatedly from the door he had previously shut. "But that still gives you no reason for such ridiculous volume."
"Oh look," Kouga mocked the taiyoukai even as his pack brothers begged him not to. "Another brainless dog."
Kikyou reached out with her bow and smacked the wolf over the head. The blow was so powerful as to knock the youkai flat on his stunned face. "Please convey my apology to Aki for violating her no violence edict. I believed it was better for me to react than you," the dead miko explained to the insulted youkai lord.
Sesshoumaru nodded minutely in response, though it irked him to be defended and protected by the dead woman. He was realistic and it was clear that he most likely would have reacted in a violent manner to the wolf's disrespect. A reaction that would only serve to make Aki angry with him.
He intended to personally care for her injuries, an endeavor that would be somewhat impossible if she should be angry with him. Besides, an upset Aki would never sit still, which would be bad for her.
With a silent sigh, Sesshoumaru snapped the door closed and turned to look at the subject of his thoughts. Aki sat on the floor of the far side of the room, watching him. Normally this would not be cause for concern, but her clothing was wet and cold, her poor muscles very much needed her to lay down to rest.
The inu youkai padded over to the soggy female and sank to the floor.
"So Kikyou had enough of the arguing boys," Aki sighed with a smile. She had overheard the whole interchange with ease. "Poor Sesshoumaru couldn't clobber Kouga properly on your own." She chuckled softly. "Good Sesshoumaru, bad Kikyou!"
Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow at her playful speech but didn't comment on it. Aki in such a light mood most likely indicated a lingering numbness that would slowly dissipate whether she desired it to or not. A warming process that would only be accelerated by getting her out of those snow wet clothes.
The inu youkai reached out to tug the zipper down the front of her jacket, his intention just to get started, and the damn thing stuck! He sat tugging at it in surprise a few moments before he let out a commanding growl.
Aki burst out laughing as he continued to fight with the metal teeth. She shook her head and brought her cold hands up to stall his warm ones when they threatened to tear her sweat jacket open. "The metal is probably a little frozen. Try warming it up first," she suggested through her chuckling.
Instead he captured her cold, clumsy hands and pressed his warmth into them. Sesshoumaru whined with concern at how cold she felt to him. He dragged the appendages close to his body the better to warm them.
"Sess?" she hissed in confusion as his body heat scorched her benumbed hands.
Sesshoumaru hauled the rest of her close in answer. The shock of how cold she was nearly sent a shudder of horror through him. It hurt and terrified him on several levels so buried and surprising to him. He hadn't realized just how much he was coming to care about her.
Sure he'd known she was important to him and if anything happened to her he would be hurt by it. He just hadn't realized how close to broken losing her would render him and that caused fear to clench the muscles of his heart. To rely on the well-being of someone else for his continued psychological health was a completely foreign experience in Sesshoumaru's life. He'd taught himself to keep from just this type of situation because it was so easily exploitable.
He had done more than step out of his comfort zone with Aki, his comfort zone was completely gone, and there was no way back. But, Sesshoumaru pondered as he squeezed Aki a little tighter, this was not a bad thing. Fear is what keeps us alive, as Aki had told him once, and bravery keeps us going. Besides, if Aki was his weakness, he didn't need to worry about his enemies too much. As Fred had said so long ago, only Aki is ever likely to take Aki down.
Unfortunately, that was another source of fear. Aki was terribly reckless with her own health. It was also a source of some hurt, because Aki had always taken care of herself before the curse. She hadn't wanted to cause her family to worry. She hadn't wished to distress her loved ones then, which indicated that there was no serious feeling in her for him right now.
He swallowed discretely and mentally shook his head, Aki had basically promised herself to him, and her heart could not be far behind. He had only to wait in order to receive what he wished for.
Oh and make sure she lives long enough for her affections to grow. Sesshoumaru forced himself to push Aki slightly away from him so he could once again attempt to disengage the jacket's zipper.
The metal teeth easily separated this time, allowing him to tug the soggy cloth from her chilled shoulders, which were beginning to shiver. Sesshoumaru peeled the sleeves from her arms to leave her bare where the bandages weren't rapped around her torso and breasts. Her soggy leggings could be ignored for the moment so he could inspect the damage immediately.
Sesshoumaru pressed her shoulders back until her back lay cushioned on one of the folded blankets ad her head was cradled by another. His claws moved their attention to the fabric wound about her to help her poor ribs. The wrapping was damp as well, and her rescue mission had loosened it a bit, making it easy to unwind it from the bottom towards the top.
Though he was reticent, he allowed Aki to help a little, making the cloth easier to slip out from under her. He stopped before he could reveal too much of her chest. He was fairly sure she had suffered no real injury there.
Color rainbowed across the skin of her mid section in different hues of greenish-brown, violent purple and angry reds where the flesh had been abused past the point of more "tame" colors. Each merely hinted at the damage beneath the surface. Sesshoumaru nearly whined at the sight, the colors being more widespread and dark than they had been before.
Aki propped herself up with her arms to take a look herself. It wasn't the greatest move on her part, as moving like that forced the muscles of her torso to move in ways that were already suffering from the effort of breathing.
Sesshoumaru growled and pulled her arms out to where they could no longer support her in such an awkward pose, causing her to fall back onto the blankets. He pressed a kiss to her forehead firm enough to reinforce the idea that she shouldn't strain herself out of curiosity or any other needless impulse.
She growled in protest, clearly letting him know there was no way she was going to behave without being forced to. Sesshoumaru kissed her again and pulled her arms out a little more to insure Aki couldn't gain any leverage again, which left him with no hands to tenderly inspect her bruises with.
Sesshoumaru was not a youkai to be easily swayed from his goals. Any impediment in the path toward his desired destination was quickly assessed and attacked, manipulated or removed through one action or another. So it was in this instance, while his hands were busy keeping Aki from straining herself further, he had other means of assessing the female's injuries.
The inu youkai rather liked the solution he came up with, he almost smiled with his pleasure, after all, he would get a lot closer if he couldn't use his hands.
"What are you doing?" Aki demanded as Sesshoumaru smirked at her before placing a kiss where his mark used to be and would be again someday.
Sesshoumaru hovered over her rib cage out of her comfortable line of sight. He could smell her so well from such close range. Aki's muscles shifted nervously, causing him to growl soothingly as he began to lick his way across her skin.
He pressed hard enough to test the bone under the surface and left the area slick when he moved on. That was another thing he rather liked about this solution, his saliva would leave his scent on her skin. Granted, the scent wouldn't stay as one of Aki's inherent abilities would cleanse it from her person rather quickly, but even this small amount of time was a comfort. And it was possible that his saliva contained other healing properties besides the coagulant she wouldn't have let him use. Though he really did want to apply it to the scratch on her cheek.
It was rather pleasant just to gain a more intimate acquaintance with Aki's physique without the possibility of sex. Not that he didn't want to mate with Aki, but just being able to show her she could be around him and just be comfortable without wondering if he had ulterior motives was a good thing.
Or at least, that's what he told himself, having no way of sensing if Aki was affected by the contact the way he was. Her scent was too subtle for him to be able to distinguish the minor changes strong emotion might make in it. He had no way of knowing, until Aki gave a treacherous moan that nearly ruined the hold he had on his self-restraint.
He was saved from misbehaving (though he wasn't exactly thrilled about it) by a sharp knock at the door and the slow appearance of the wind youkai beyond.
Kagura blinked mildly at Sesshoumaru, who had moved to block Aki from view. She came bearing more blankets, a bowl of food, and other useful items. "Oh please," Kagura twitched the corner of her mouth in amusement, "don't stop misbehaving on my account."
Aki groaned from behind the inu youkai blocking her from sight. Aki really hated being unable to see whom she was talking to and she certainly planned to talk to the wind user. It wasn't in her to completely ignore the presence of another for no reason.
The first move she made to sit up behind Sesshoumaru sent her breath out of her in a hiss of pain. The growl of her living screen made let her know what he thought of both the attempt and even the idea of her moving. "Oh shut up!" Aki huffed uneasily; the effort beyond breathing was rather painful at this point.
"All right stop misbehaving!" Kagura growled. "Aki sit still!"
"Like I'm going to take orders from somebody I can't see," Aki mumbled with an unseen roll of her eyes.
"Aki, do not move unnecessarily," Sesshoumaru ordered with a growl and a glare over his shoulder.
"Like I'm going to follow the orders of somebody I can see," Aki glared right back at him. "And don't try the 'but you're in pain' card, it won't work."
Sesshoumaru growled angrily. Her insinuation that he would try such an utterly useless persuasion on the woman that didn't rest unless the weather, weakness, and narcotics were used against her in a single offensive maneuver was incredibly insulting of his intelligence. Surely Aki didn't think he was that dumb.
Aki shook her head. "There you go again, taking everything personally." She sighed tiredly. Then she reached up and closed her hand over his shoulder and pulled herself up form the floor so she could look over him to Kagura. "Now," the former tutor leaned heavily against he taiyoukai, "You came in here for a reason right?"
"Aki lay back down already," Kagura grumbled pleadingly. Aki stared up at her, blankly waiting for the answer to her simple question. "Really Aki it's not so important you need to sit up for it," the wind user muttered. It was Sesshoumaru's turn to stare up at the detachment speakingly. She had to realize that now Aki was sitting up, it would cause her more pain to lay back down without help.
"Speak and be done with it," Sesshoumaru demanded coolly. He wanted the interruption gone and over with already. Aki was still wearing damp clothing and in pain.
Kagura seemed to realize her inability to drop the last subject and move on was beginning to piss off the one youkai nobody wanted to anger. "I brought extra blankets, dinner and some tea. I couldn't remember if I had dried your hair before you left the room or not," Kagura explained. "All that fur and hair can get confusing."
Aki smiled up at her, "the mass of hair that is all mine is still a soggy mess, thanks for remembering. Or rather, not remembering as it were," she started to chuckle before immediately cutting herself off. "If that food is the same garbage Kikyou gave me earlier, you can take it back. I'd rather sleep."
"I don't think that's the idea," the wind user chuckled mildly with a shake of her head. "It's supposed to help warm you up as much as fill your stomach. Hence the tea."
Aki made a disgusted face, "I'd rather chew on tree bark."
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was in the tea," Kagura glanced at the tea consideringly.
"Even if it isn't, I don't like tea," Aki dismissed the beverage even as she shivered with cold.
"But you're cold," Kagura blinked.
"And the sun is not," Aki snorted, "Drop it."
"But it would make a mess," Kagura pointedly set the food and tea aside gently.
"Everybody's a comedian," Aki grumbled with a half smile.
"I blame you for it," Sesshoumaru gently dipped his shoulder an inch.
"And I'll take it as a compliment," Aki smiled and nudged her chin against the shoulder supporting her. "Can we get my hair dried now? It's dripping all over the blankets."
"Sure thing," Kagura stood up and moved toward Aki with the intent of doing just that when she realized the partial youkai was still wearing soggy pants. "Why aren't you finished changing clothes yet?" she demanded before thinking better of it. "How are you supposed to get warm in wet clothes?"
"We were misbehaving of course, don't you remember?" was Aki's not answer.
Kagura heaved a great, belabored sight. "Stand up so we can get you dressed and dried properly. Really, are you trying to get sick? And after I told you about Kanna's complaints. You just have no consideration!"
Aki blinked as her smile grew outrageously wide. She had no consideration? She just saved a complete stranger's life! Kagura was hilarious. "Oh please don't make me laugh," she begged as her eyes grew shiny.
"I'm not making you laugh, I'm making you stand up!" Kagura declared evenly.
"Help me up, you slave driver," Aki teased the wind user. She pushed herself off the floor using Sesshoumaru as a support. The inu youkai growled in protest when he heard her hiss in pain as the effort made her use the muscles she had already overused.
"Watch the name calling," Kagura mock scolded her as she helped to steady the other woman on her feet. She held the spare kimono out as Aki let the last of the wrapping fall way. "Geez, Aki," Kagura breathed upon glimpsing Aki's colorful torso even as she wrapped the second hand silk garment around her tightly.
Mole youkai weren't anywhere near as tall as Aki and were never likely to grow to her height. So it was no surprise when the kimono of a recently deceased female mole youkai stopped just before reaching Aki's knees.
"I feel like a kid after a really big growth spurt," Aki grumbled.
Kagura laughed and quickly dried Aki's hair. "At least its dry, which those pants are not. OFF with them," she ordered briskly.
Aki began to mutter under her breath in English as she attempted to struggle out of the clinging, wet material. Sesshoumaru reached up to help her out of them and she batted him away. "I happen to like keeping these in one piece," she snorted over his growl. The inu youkai pressed forward despite her objection and tugged her out of the cold cloth and down into his lap so fast she didn't have time to blink.
Kagura chuckled quietly before reminding the taiyoukai of the food cooling on the floor with a small, subtle gesture of her fan. Then she retreated from the room, Aki's wet clothing in one hand and her insuppressible smile hidden by the other. Life around Aki truly was Entertaining.
She wondered if Sesshoumaru would manage to get Aki to eat. Kagura hoped so, but she didn't want to try imagining the ways the inu youkai would go about the task.