I have desperately tried to find the first part of this. It was called Horse Boy and essentially Kagome managed to embarrass and befuddle Neiji to the point he followed her home for a drink. It stands well enough (ironically seems like a serious story) by itself though so here you are.
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Neiji had to admit, when he came in for a drink with Kagome he hadn't expected..well he wasn't sure what he wanted. Just that for the first time he was being treated like a male honestly, and though the petite civilian eyed him and found him attractive she made no moves on his person. No she'd gotten out another glass, filled it with cognac and settled in to swirl it and sip it occasionally, visibly relaxing each time.
"It's meant to be savored..not stared at." Kagome's eyes were closed, yet Neiji took the prompt for what it was, taking a tentative sip of the foreign beverage which was not unlike sake in the texture and residual burn.
His eyes glanced about the house, typical of a ninja in wishing to know his surroundings and found himself surprised. He had expected...feminine. Perhaps the trend to the austere traditional but still feminine. What he saw instead was...
Primitive. There was no other way to put it. Oh there were the usual amenities but he noticed after he came in that Kagome had fumbled finding the light switch and that the candles were all still slightly smoking and at varying widths showing she used those generally instead. There were scrolls and books packed along the wall's only area for a bookcase. There were a few simple pots and pans and a single burner on a very old stove. From various beams in the roof hung drying plants in paper bags with slits cut for aeration. He had no idea what to think at this point. This was not at all what he expected, if not for the few modern amenities he would have sworn he had stepped back in time.
"You could ask." Kagome cut in verbally, her eyes still closed, relaxed as if he wasn't piecing apart her personality by blatantly staring around.
"It is rare I can do so."
Kagome laughed at his admission, it was a strange half strangled sound as it was startled out of her but he was rewarded with a single blue eye opening. "Then shouldn't you take advantage of it seeing as what you think you see may not be what you see?"
Neiji set his glass down, steepling his fingers before him and leaning forward. "You seem to be interested in the old ways, you prefer candles to the lights, you don't care about comforts and it makes me think you truly make nothing at your job except I have heard you do well..so you have to draw a decent pay."
"Sometimes...the oldest of ways are the most comfortable. For those who remember the reasoning." Kagome slowly sat up, her hair falling around her face like she had just awakened and fixed him with a calm expression, those eyes of hers always so guarded. "The bright lights damage my sensitivity to the light, many of my books and scrolls are fragile, the plants themselves do best in a darker environment and I am comfortable with the candles..they comfort me." She shrugged a bit and took another sip of her drink before continuing, her words making Neiji all the more aware that his assumptions all this time on the tiny medical assistant ...seemed to hold no basis at all.
"One doesn't need much to be comfortable. Usually possessions are distractions for those who are not comfortable with themselves." Kagome left it at that as she stood, fluid in her motions as she went to turn off the light and Neiji out of courtesy did not activate his bloodline limit. His ears were able to hear her clothing rustle as she moved and struck the match to light the first candle. Her feet he noticed, made as little sound as a ninjas. Curious.
"As for my pay..it is more then sufficient. I see no reason to squander it however, so much goes to be put away until another day and the rest goes where I feel a need to spend it." There was a sudden tiredness to Kagome's voice, that deep weariness of one who lives in a world so fluid they long to just know what the next day brings. Neiji didn't even realize he was responding to that tone until he was standing before her. He blamed the candle light for making her deep blue eyes so dark and full of mystery, her earlier words for tempting him. Once his hand slipped to her delicate throat to cup the back of her head and his lips slanted over hers he stopped blaming though..
Kagome tasted of cognac and forbidden actions outside of one who would someday be chosen as his wife. Her arms were around him without hesitation though there was a slight shyness that said despite her bravado she was not so experienced with a man he need wonder for even a moment what he was getting into. Soft sounds were made as he trailed his other hand along her side to grasp her hip and then her lips were torn from his as she panted soft puffs against his mouth, catching her breath.
Neiji went to speak but her fingers gently pressed against his lips, a silent promise for no words of this encounter outside of the evening should he continue, or walk away..
Neiji flicked a kunai out and sliced the wick of the candle plunging them into darkness even as he slanted his mouth over hers again.
