This story is roughly a somewhat twisted parody of Oscar Wilde's brilliant The Picture of Dorian Gray which I finished the other day and the idea came to me today. I must warn you all from this point that there will be a bit of shonen-ai…and some occ-ness. I hope you all enjoy!

As for the setting, I think you'll figure out the time-period without me having to tell you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or The Picture of Dorian Gray. They belong to their creators, respectively and I mean no offense at all.


Chapter I

In few words he was utterly breath-taking and beautiful. All that he did was with grace and he expressed more emotion through those golden eyes of his then on his marble-like countenance. He was the talk of all and he enjoyed it. Sweet praises and words of worship had a way of drifting to his ear and he would listen with a small smirk of satisfaction that he was not forgotten. He never wanted to be forgotten. His name had to withstand Time itself. It was horrible in his eyes to be the very source of life in society and then the next moment is forgotten like last season's trends. Secretly that was what he feared.

But with praise came insured scandal due to the fact that he was constantly in the eyes of the public and all that he did they were sure to know or at least hear sooner or later. Just the past week he had emerged from one of the greatest scandals the city had ever heard of and he was at the source of it. It had lasted exactly six weeks; and it had all come about because of his being accused of being spotted in one of the worst parts of the city, allegedly up to no good, as one eminent lady of high standing in society had put it to another of her standing.

How he managed to do it, he had come out with a high head and his name relieved of the slander which had soiled his noble and influential name. Though the scandal had passed from the public's interest when all had been fixed, there were still some of the middle-class who, when in private congregations, insisted there was more to the scandal then was said.

His lordship was known for having an extraordinary beauty that was envied by both sex and was another much talked about topic at parties and social and private events. It was said by these persons who would not allow this particular outrage to simply die, that what his lordship had been doing in that unbefitting part of the city had something to do with a secret paramour he went to see each night when it was completely dark and like a silent ghost he could go about unseen in a black frock and merge with the very shadows of corruption, unnoticed and unrecognizable.

There were other more interesting speculations that were mentioned and strongly stressed that what he had been doing related to disgracing and completely immoral behaviour that involved the name of another man. One had to be standing a good deal close in order to decipher their meaning, and once one did, a gasp of shock would join the other exclamations in the room.

Thus, this was one of the many scandals that circulated about the quite handsome Lord Sesshomaru Takahashi as he languidly sipped a cup of tea whilst having a rather dull conversation with his intimate friend and sibling Inuyasha, a lad of tender seventeen years who earned his living with his hands and talents rather then exploit the money their father, the late Lord Inutaishou Takahashi, had left for them to enjoy wisely. And that was not something Sesshomaru was doing.

It was rather difficult to explain what exactly Inuyasha did to earn his living, but Sesshomaru had seen his brother try various things such that revolved around art mainly. But there were occasions when he would stray from art and do other things such as laborious tasks like mining, blacksmith, and even go as far as disgrace himself by toying with a shovel to bury the dead. He had not established boundaries which would limit him to experience.

From the two Inuyasha hadn't a cell in his body which would easily move him to yield to stupid and immoral things unlike Sesshomaru who lived for scandals and physical and mental pleasures that the world and humanity had to offer him.

On this pleasant morning of January, both brothers occupied the same room under the same roof which had once been inhabited by their father and his two wives not even five years ago. Sesshomaru sat on a red covered settee with a cup of tea as mentioned before and listening numbly to what his brother was saying. He had his eyes drifting betwixt the blank canvas Inuyasha was staring at with a deep and frustrated frown, and the great vaults of heaven just outside the open French doors leading out into the garden.

A cold breeze from the north gently crept into the large room and brought with it the multiple aromas of many exotic and beautiful flowers from the garden. Like the breath of an infant, papers and locks of eloquent silver were rustled and only further served to annoy Inuyasha. Sesshomaru enjoyed the breeze very much; he set down his empty cup on a small side-table and closed his eyes and leaned his head back.

There was nothing like an icy zephyr from the north to cleanse the mind and tranquilize the body and usher it to relaxation!

As Sesshomaru relished the wind, today Inuyasha was an uninspired painter who was staring at the worst dilemma any painter could ever face. An empty canvas and a lack of creativity were a catastrophe.

Since the sun had chased away darkness and allowed the light to dominate over the land for its turn, Inuyasha had found his way into the room where one day it would be a room solely for the purpose of music, the next painting, followed by sketching and drawing. On rare occasion this very room would be converted into a haven for literature or nothing but the devotion of peace and exile from the world and man. But these occasions were very, very rare and did not occur frequently.

A tired sigh emerged from his thin lips and he weary tossed his paint brush on a small table that held all his painting supplies. He cast one last look at the canvas as though inspiration was written in invisible letters across it and it required a certain way to view it that would lead to its discovery. But there was no such thing and again he sighed.

"You should do something else and then perhaps some inspiration will enter that obstinate head of yours, brother." Came the calm suggestion from the listless figure who was resting in the red settee with his eyes closed.

"When did you become an expert in art, Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked curtly as he looked at his brother before moving over to the tray of tea thing and poured himself a cup of tea which had gone cold hours ago.

"I'm no expert and I don't claim that I am. It's only a suggestion which you might accept or decline." Sesshomaru rejoinder monotonously.

Inuyasha grunted something under his breath before he stared at his brother curiously and asked, "You might have a point. But why are you here? I thought you were meeting Naraku at one of those places where you and he always seem to be at. What don't tell me the two of you are mad at each other?"

There came no immediate answer for a few minutes before those closed lids of transparent color slowly opened and a pair of shimmering gold eyes stared up at the ceiling and those red sealed lips moved and formed words.

"I thought you might want some animate person with you instead of the constant inanimate things you send so much of your time around." Sesshomaru said at last.

Inuyasha snorted and replied acerbically, "How considerate of you Sesshomaru. But I really don't need you here stealing all the oxygen in the room or for that matter, stealing my inspiration. You're like a bad omen; each time you're around me when I'm going to paint or draw something you always screw things up for me! Now get the hell out and leave me alone. I don't want your damn charity of compassion. Give it to someone else who doesn't know you."

The younger brother stormed to the door and threw it open, waiting for him to get and leave him alone like he requested. But Sesshomaru appeared not to have heard him at all; he remained laying on the settee with his eyes still fixed to the high ceiling with glossy eyes.

Growling, Inuyasha sauntered angrily to where his brother lay ignoring him when he suddenly felt that he had rediscovered his lost inspiration. He stopped and stared at what had regained him his inspiration. It couldn't be! Why, why had it have to be his brother? With a groan Inuyasha clenched his fists and quickly returned to his canvas and began to mix colors like a madman—but a madman who knows art.

When Sesshomaru stirred, Inuyasha jumped and snapped, "Don't you even think about moving. As strange as this sounds, but you're my inspiration and it has to be painted. I said don't move, damn it!"

A twisted smirk lift the corner of one of Sesshomaru's red lips and began to get up, causing Inuyasha's anger and annoyance to flare to life. He smoothed out the absent wrinkles on his coat and made to go. Inuyasha at once was on him and roughly seated him back on the settee and said with a finger pointed to his face in a menacing fashion, "I said don't move Sesshomaru. You could have left hours ago but you wanted to stay and now that I've found some inspiration in you, you're not leave."

"Are you keeping me against my will, Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked with sharpness evident in his voice. He hated being kept against his will, but he would make some exceptions to that general rule.

"Just give me time Sesshomaru and then when this painting is done, you can get the hell out of here and do whatever the hell you like. But just resume that pose you were doing before you got up and screwed everything up. Yeah, that's the pose. Stay like that and don't move." Inuyasha murmured as he returned to his canvas and picked up the painting brush that he had dropped to the floor in his haste to stop Sesshomaru.

"Whatever you say Inuyasha." was all that Sesshomaru said as he posed for his brother's painting.