Prompt: Borrow
Genre: Humor
Rating: T
Warning: Innuendo
Summary: Paybacks are a b*tch?

They had been dating each other for a few months now. They were moving past the cautious 'I like you and want to get to know you' stage of a new friendship into the 'deeper understanding of each other' stage of a growing relationship. It was not without its problems.

Facing each other, a demon diayoukai and a human miko were obviously trying to reach a compromise. The demon was not faring well. He wanted something from her, and he was willing to do just about anything to procure the prize. She had him at a disadvantage and they both knew it, but he wasn't planning on giving in to any frivolous demands.

Kagome held out a pen and paper towards him. "Please sign here."

Sesshoumaru stared hard at her. This situation was completely ridiculous.

The petite female before him comfortably ignored the withering glare from his amber eyes. She patiently continued to present the paper and pen, waiting for him to come to a decision.

"Do you want to or not?"

"It seems you have left me no choice," he replied tersely.

She delicately snorted at his suggestion that she was somehow forcing him to do something against his will. "You always have a choice. You either want to or you don't. If you want to, then sign your name."

"If this is your idea of a joke," he said evenly through clenched teeth, "I do not find it humorous."

"Sesshoumaru, it is just business. Surely you understand that I need to protect myself. I have been burned too many times in the past and while I'm sure you would never do something like that to me, I still need to look out for my own best interests. You forget I was taught well by Grandfather!" She flashed him a big bright smile as she said this.

"You would dare to question my intentions over a matter such as this? I did not think you capable of an action so… common." He raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Her eyes flashed, but she quelled the biting retort that tried valiantly to squeeze past her brain/mouth filter. She realized quickly he was trying to manipulate her emotions. She was not about to be derailed off the topic and baited into a useless argument.

"It is not a question of intention, but one of self-preservation. What if things don't work out between us?" she questioned reasonably. "I don't want to be the one left holding the short end of the stick."

The demeaning dog reference was done on purpose. If this was the game he wanted to play, she was willing and determined to give as good as she got.

The remark was not lost on him and his respect for her nimble mind went up a notch. This pretty little woman was no pushover. She had a hot temper, but she did not allow it rule her. His attempt at drawing her into a hysterical maelstrom failed and instead resulted in her turning it back on him. He almost broke his stoic façade with a smirk. She was turning out to be a formidable and intriguing sparring partner.

Having discovered an interesting facet of her character, he decided to concede to her demands. After all, there was no point in cutting off one's nose to spite one's face in so small a matter. All he need do was patiently bide his time. Soon he hoped to have her under his thumb, writhing and begging for release. Plotting it all out in his mind, he took the pen and paper from her and with an elegant flourish, signed his name.

Kagome beamed with pleasure, taking note of his graceful surrender. He was stubborn, but not unreasonable or immovable. She took the items from him, read the paper making sure it was all in order, and then she handed over the five dollar bill he had asked to borrow when he had discovered his wallet was in his other jacket.

Smiling with satisfaction, she tucked the IOU into her purse while he went to the Starbucks counter to place his coffee order. She wondered how long it would take him to pay her back.

A/N: Posted Dec. 5, 2008. This won first place. :) I do not own Starbucks... obviously. If I did, I'd be sipping an iced one on a beach instead of posting stories online, lol! Thanks for reading!