When I see him next, he's lying casually in a low-lying tree branch close to the shed. When he notices me he jumps down and strolls in my direction. He has his shirt off and I what I see is rather pleasing to the eye to the point it takes a bit of concentration on my part not to stare. The wolf demon has excellent taste.
"I take it you are done?" I ask.
"Yeah finished a while ago, went home and came back."
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Don't be, I didn't have any plans for the day."
"Did you happen to note the height of the grain once you were done?"
"Not really," he replies, "was I suppose to?"
"No, I was simply wondering if you had. It helps to know the height so I can estimate how long it shall last."
I busy myself pulling out the ladder so I can check the height of the grains. It was always such a tedious chore. Not one I look forward to in the least. As I drag the ladder over to the silo I feel a presence close behind me.
"You don't scare easily do you Miroku?"
"Uh no why?" I ask thinking that's an odd question.
"Good," he says as an arm goes around my waist, "hold on."
Before I can protest, I am standing on the platform to the opening of the silo. Kami, the power and abilities of demons astounds me. I am trying not to shake as he lets me go. For the love of... nothing should be able to move that fast, especially without breaking a sweat.
I check the level of the grain and turn to, Inuyasha. He has a wicked grin on that beautiful face and before I can protest he picks me up bridal style for the jump down. We land without so much as a thump.
"Thanks… I think."
Laughter, that I feel he's been suppressing since he jumped up to the platform with me, comes bubbling out in waves. I give him a look and that only makes him laugh harder. I reach in my haori and give him a sack containing the gold pieces I owe him. He jingles the sack around a bit before thanking me.
"No, thank you my friend," I reply and those ears of his perk up. I don't comment on his shock choosing to smile instead.
"I know you don't care for leaving your mother alone but I would love to show you where I live one day when you have the time," I offer.
"Really? Why?" he asks and the suspicion is back.
"No particular reason, its customary for friends to share such things is it not?" I ask.
"Well... sure... I guess," he says and I know I have confused him yet again. Good I would hate to have grown predictable so soon.
"Fine then, you pick a time and I shall gladly show you where my humble abode is."
He looks away from me and appears to be thinking so I busy myself putting the ladder away I didn't use. I am curious if he will take me up on my offer now, if so this will be a grand development indeed! I figured it would take weeks of gentle urging and hint dropping for such an occurrence.
"Well a close friend is with my mother for the day if you have the time now. It's not far is it?"
"Merely an hour's carriage ride, a distance I'm sure you could cover in mere minutes."
A snort and a chuckle wafts out of him and I offer up my most dazzling smile. When he returns it, I am in heaven. This is nearly too good to be true. We walk to where I've left my horses and carriage and in no time, we are on our way.
The trip to my home was eventful indeed. The conversation was more engaging than I expected especially once he got over his initial shyness. He didn't speak of many personal things but that is to be expected, we have only known each other for a couple of days. I wish to know how powerful he is so with the excuse of needing to relieve myself I stop the carriage and walk into the surrounding forest.
Once a decent distance away I chant the few words needed to summon a lesser demon. Once it appears I instruct it to go into the direction we are headed, wait for us to pass, then attack the half demon with the intent to kill. The mindless beast nods before it dashes off to do my bidding. I figure worst case scenario I'll have to defend us, but I am willing to bet my silver haired friend will have no problem holding his own. When I returned to the carriage, he was standing beside one of the horses running his hand through the mare's thick black mane. He appears to be whispering to her.
"Did you know she is carrying a colt?" he asks without turning around.
"No I did not," I reply honestly all while wondering how he knows.
"She's not far along but soon pulling this carriage won't be much fun for her. Do you have another horse that could take her place?"
"I have several that could. In fact since you seem to have a way with them I'll let you pick her replacement."
Amber eyes light up and his smile makes him appear rather childlike. He whispers something else to the mare as I'm climbing back onto the bench. Once seated, I look at him just as the horse shakes her head and neighs. He laughs and I am more confused and intrigued than ever. It's obvious he can communicate with the animal and vice versa, however beyond that I have no clue what's going on.
I don't like being in the dark. I'm use to knowing all I want, which is generally much more than I need, "What's so funny my friend?"
He's so amused it takes him a while to compose himself so he can answer. When he notes the look on my face, he clears his throat in an effort to collect himself. With a shaky calm he says, "Well to be honest," he begins before looking at the mare indulging in their silent exchange once again. Apparently he gets the ok because he continues, "she thinks you are …uh well… not very knowledgeable about how to care for horses."
The flush on his face tells me he did more than a little rewording expressing that sentiment. I'm not insulted in the least. I consider them property and beasts of burden, nothing more. If it wasn't obvious that saying so would upset him I'd do just that. Alas, I shall turn on the charm instead. One gets more flies with honey, right?
"Tell her I apologize, and if you wouldn't mind could you find out the changes I need to make to improve my equestrian care?"
Another smile and a nod before he turns his attention back to the mare. They converse, for a lack of anything else to call the exchange, for a while. As they do, I take the time to study Inuyasha and his wondrous interaction with the animal. I've never seen or heard of such a gift.
This half demon gets more interesting by the hour.
With a pat to her snout, he is done and jumps up to the bench, landing almost weightlessly beside me. I gently urge the two horses into a trot as he tells me about what I need to change. The longer this goes on the more I wonder about his gift so I ask.
"I don't really know what to call it, Miroku. The old hag that finally convinced my mother I wasn't crazy but instead had a rare gift didn't give it a name."
"Your mother thought you were crazy?"
"Hell I'm surprised you didn't. Think about it from her standpoint. Her little boy is constantly going on about his lunch conversation with random squirrels and telling the whole village a bird told him a big nasty demon was headed in their direction."
Hmmm he had a point that was odd indeed. I suppose if I wasn't so involved with the mysterious and magical myself, I would have been more shocked.
"How exactly is it that you communicate with them? To me it just looked like you were standing there petting the horse."
"I can hear them in my head," he says.
"Can you always? Even right now?" I ask wondering if every creature in the forest was yelling in his head.
"No that's the really odd thing about all this. I can only hear them if they want to talk to me, and the further they are away the harder it is to understand them. It's clearest when I am in contact with the animal."
Extraordinary!
"Can you call out to an animal and start a conversation?"
"Yeah, if they are receptive, but they can be as moody as we are at times. I've been ignored on more than one occasion."
"Ah, I see."
Such a fascinating and talented creature. He was about to give an example when the scent of the lesser demon I summoned hits his nose.
"Be on the lookout Miroku, I smell something nasty close by."
Time to feign innocent, "What are you talking about?"
"There's a demon of some sort close by. From the smell of it, it's a swamp demon."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, my nose is never wrong, even if it is strange for a demon of that sort to be this far away from the marshes."
Mental note, I'll have to be more mindful of what type of demon I conjure up next time. I didn't consider the surroundings and I underestimated his detective skills. I don't get to ponder this further because the demon in question comes charging out of the forest at us, well at Inuyasha, but as far as he knows we are both its target.
The red clad figure at my side springs into action. In a furious blur of movement, my half demon companion launches himself at the lesser demon. In three quick swipes, he has the thing disabled and on its back writhing in agony.
Then with a savagery I would have thought beyond him, he tosses the creature skyward and cleanly slices its head off. The look of smug satisfaction on his face as demon bits rain down into the forest behind him is something I won't forget anytime soon.
I make a mental note not to piss him off without just cause and a damn good plan of action.
"Hang tight Miroku. I'm gonna go wash this gunk off my hands."
Before I can reply, he bounds into the woods out of sight. When he returns he is all smiles and ready to pick up in conversation where we left off.
Once we are in sight of my home his eyes, grow wide as he lets out a whistle, "Whoever owns that place is one lucky bastard."
It takes a lot for me not to laugh, "Why do you say that?" I ask.
"Well just look at it. That manor is huge, it's secluded so no troublesome or nosey neighbors milling about and with all the fenced in land a person could have all the animals they wanted."
"I have to agree with you on all three points my friend," I say as I guide the horses over the bridge leading to my home once I do that his head snaps around, those golden eyes narrow and he says, "Don't tell me this is your place?"
"Indeed it is."
"Now I feel like a complete ass. Thanks for letting me carry on like that."
"No need to worry about that, I've been called much worse. Lucky bastard is actually quite flattering."
As we trotted across the bridge one of the few servants I have came out to greet us and take care of the horses. Inuyasha has a worried look cross is face so I ask him if he wants to go with Sato to the stables. The eager yes was amusing and I tell Sato to show him to the dining area once they were finished and cleaned up.
This gives me plenty of time to let the cook know we have a guest for dinner and change out of my traveling clothes and into something more comfortable.
As I leave the kitchen and head toward my chambers I am thinking so hard my head hurts. I had not planned on him accepting my offer to visit so soon, however this means I may not have to work as hard to get what I want.
When I enter my room I look around thinking of the various items that might aid me. I have so many I am not sure where to start. The only thing I do know is that I want today to be subtle. I have yet to make up my mind on whether or not I want to become competition for his wolf demon suitor.
I allow my mind to dwell on this as I sift through my wardrobe. I settle on a dark green robe that reminds me of a necklace in my possession that I have had so long I've forgotten about it. After I change clothes I cross the room to the chest that rests below the window. It contains items from years gone by when I was half the sorcerer I am today. Back in a time where I still relied on spells to manipulate people in a way I can now do with mere words and a smile.
The amulet I'm seeking will not only match this robe nicely the enchantment on it causes anyone in the wearers presence to be drawn to them. Nothing major but this will make it hard for my half demon friend to keep his eyes off me during our meal.
A little rummaging later and I have the amulet in hand. I admire it for a moment because it is a striking piece of jewelry in its own right. The center piece is hefty sized emerald that's surrounded by gold that's twisted and braided to look like a wreath. The entire piece hangs from an ebony band of cloth and the moment it comes to rest around my neck I remember how I obtained it.
It was many years ago when I lived in a place so far from here I doubt the villagers that know me now, realize the place exists. I came across an eyesore of a woman selling leather pouches, boots and things of that nature. She tried her hand at flirting with me as I browsed through her wares but I was not interested in the least. I am a vain man and unless anything or anyone strikes me as beautiful and unique I don't waste my time. However one day as I shopped I found myself smiling at the harpy and returning her flirtations with a few of my own. Stunned and unsettled by my own actions I left the moment I became aware of this and my head was clear enough to do so. When I returned a few days later the actions repeated themselves and I vowed to get to the bottom of it.
Upon my third trip I was armed with a wicking stone in a ring upon my finger. It is a rare milky white stone that turns blue when magic is being used upon the one that possess it. It also pulls toward the source of the magic. In this case it was the necklace around the harpy's neck. I was impressed by her resourcefulness but I was not a man to be toyed with.
I took great pleasure in relieving her of her head and claiming the amulet and her wares for myself.
Done strolling down memory lane I remove the tie from my hair and let the dark strands fall on my shoulders. I run a brush through my hair and once I'm done I stop short as I reconsidered tying it back. I look in the mirror and I'm pleased to note it looks good loose and decide to leave it that way.
I turn my attention to one of the few books I possess on healing. I don't know what ails Inuyasha's mother but I do know she is rather ill. I keep in mind that I'm not supposed to be aware of anything more than the fact she has trouble sleeping. I flip through the book and come up with a recipe that relieves pain and aids sleep.
Luckily for me I have all the ingredients. I mix them together, grind them into a powder and pour that into a pouch for my guest. With that done I leave my chambers and head for the kitchen. Before I reach my destination the smell of roasted duck and summer squash fills my nostrils. I hope our guest is a fan of that, either way I suppose we will find out.
On my way through I tell the cook to bring out enough bread, cheese and wine to tide us over until the main course is done.
I don't have to wait in the dining area long before Inuyasha arrives looking happier than I've seen him since I've known him. I ask him to have a seat, he does and when the wine and cheese is sat before us I dismiss the servant and ask Inuyasha how the horses are.
"Six of them are great but one of them is a little under the weather. I told Sato what to give him to make him feel better," he says and suddenly his smile falters. "I hope that was ok to do."
I raise a hand and say, "Of course it was. You would know better than any of us what is called for. I am thankful because Sato hadn't even noticed the animal was ill therefore he should be thankful as well."
The happiness is back as he grabs a slice of bread and a wedge of cheese off the tray between us. I ask him if he talked to all the horses and he volunteers what they conversed about. Most of it was mundane but some of it was rather amusing. It's when he reaches for another slice of bread that I notice him staring at me.
"Nice robes you have on there Miroku, green is a good color for you."
"Thank you, but I in no way wear this as well as you wear red my friend," I reply and choose not to comment on how his cheeks redden. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something that may help your mother if my guess is correct." I pass him the pouch containing the mix I made earlier, "If pain is keeping her awake this should help quite a bit."
The shock on his face pleases me. I want to keep him off balance and on his toes.
"It is and thank you. How much do I owe you for this?"
"Consider it a gift. All I ask is that you let me know if it works and how well. If she doesn't improve with the use of that I will try something different."
He nods and a broad smile paints is face as he tucks the pouch in his haori.
His eyes land on me again but I pretend not to notice as I fill my wine glass. When I look up to ask him if he would like some he looks away but not before mumbling yes. I fill his glass and ask him if he'd like to come check on the horses here in his spare time. Bright and eager amber eyes look at me and I know I am on the right path.
Dinner is a rather pleasant affair as I find conversation with him to come easy. He is far more intelligent than I would have ever assumed a creature such as him to be. He is still a little guarded as we speak but as the wine flows and the amulet works its magic he gives more telling answers to the questions I ask.
The sun is close setting by the time he takes his leave of my residence. I choose to follow him yet again and much like the last time I'm not disappointed in the least. He heads straight for the village he resides in and I am pleased to note they dwell on the outskirts so if I chose to spy on them here as well it will be easier than I had initially imagined.
These villages are full of surprises and one can never tell if there is a person among them that could sniff me out regardless of what type of concealing spell I may be using. My magic's are best suited to work against demons, nymphs and creatures of that nature as well as other witches and warlocks like myself. Priest and priestess have a much more pure line of power and talents therefore I try not to engage them if I can avoid it.
After close to an hour of him doing what I assume to be checking on his mother, he steps outside the decent sized hut I'm sure he built himself with an older woman. She tells him that his mother fared well for the day and that whatever medicine he'd given her had her more comfortable and like herself than she'd seen in a year.
He thanks her for her time and hands her several of the coins he'd earned from me at the mill. Her eyes grow wide and she tries to refuse them but he insists, saying that it wasn't a burden. He goes on to tell her about working for me and that he appreciates all the help she's given since his mother fallen in and he was more than happy to finally be able to give her something for her time.
She hugs him in the same way a mother would hug a child and I can only guess that she has been one of the few people in his village he could trust. When she leaves he goes into the hut for a little while once again and just as I had thought, once night falls he takes off for the pond.