Clammed Up
Rin dug for the canteen she knew Sesshomaru kept in Ah-Un's left saddlebag. She pulled it out along with the cloth to mop the sweat from her brow. The threadbare work clothes that served double duty as her training apparel hung drenched and heavy, the thick collar alone chafing at her neck. Undoing her ponytail, Rin looked up in time to catch Jaken smirking at how her hair puffed out in the humidity.
It's so unfair. Sesshomaru stood without so much as a trickle of perspiration to show that he had just participated in the same grueling practice. Seeing Rin glower at him, he caught her eye. Wordlessly, the daiyokai directed her line of vision to his shattered shoulder guard. Rin's bragging point for the day. Sesshomaru would mend it later, for now he would wear the broken armor for her. The wisp of a child he'd found had grown strong and she deserved to see the power of her efforts.
He looked back at Rin with silent praise. You did well.
The young woman smiled, but it was half-hearted. Their "conversations" often carried on like this. But I want to say more.
Sesshomaru stepped forward. Care to talk?
Sitting down on a fallen log, Rin shook her head. Then sighed. Nah, not yet.
I'll wait. He turned around and gazed distractedly at the few clouds that blotted the sky. Usually, on quiet moments by himself, Sesshomaru reflected on his next task at hand: the next range to patrol, a policy to review, and – if he was lucky – perhaps a worthwhile opponent to cross blades with. But having Rin around was different. His concerns narrowed to a single life. In these accompanied quiet moments his mind drifted from grand machinations to guarded memories.
.
Sesshomaru hardly deigned to rest. He had survived the Wind Scar, felt the claws of his father's finest technique drag him within an inch of his life. It was as if he'd been demoted to puppyhood again and given his first trouncing. Only Sesshomaru swore he wouldn't be humiliated further this time. He had rested all the days necessary to overcome the paralysis and moved on, unable to stand being sedentary a minute longer. But now even some time after leaving the glade, the daiyokai still felt the aftershock. The network of knots that worked a throbbing soreness through him only compounded the tremor in his wrist and stutter in his step.
After a week's futility, Sesshomaru finally succumbed to his body's demands for rest. And sat down. With Jaken on a fool's errand and only a mute child for company, he could have something of a day's peace and quiet. Slumped against the trunk of a tree that bordered a grassy clearing, Sesshomaru relaxed as many muscles as possible, hoping the ache would stretch out with them.
His blade-arm, now only arm as of these past few months, lay motionless at his side, hand sprawled palm-up.
Then his nose quivered and amber eyes half opened.
The little waif.
It was like having a desk in the room. The girl was there, but she existed on the fringes of Sesshomaru's awareness. Drawing only attention if he paid her any.
Or until she gets this close.
Determined to have a moment to himself, Sesshomaru refused to acknowledge the brat. Couldn't she entertain herself with the scenery? Wasn't there something more fascinating to study?
Still faced forward, he chanced a glimpse at her. She smiled.
Apparently, in this field of flowers and grubs, she decides the most fascinating creature is me. The daiyokai grimaced. For as true as that may have been, he wished she would leave him be.
Sesshomaru waited for the whelp to lose interest as children often do. The expediency of flaring his aura never occurred to him.
The little girl grinned, even giggling some.
"Huh," Sesshomaru huffed. The only intelligent talk in the air.
Then he picked up a sense of motion. The little girl reached over, tentatively with trembling fingers, and with a speed that even demon eyes had trouble registering, patted the center of Sesshomaru's palm. Twice in rapid succession, then retreated.
Sesshomaru took his time angling his head to fix the girl with his signature stare of disinterest.
"What?" he asked.
She shook her head.
The demon waited. This wasn't a vocal plea for attention, but it was a forward motion nonetheless. The girl-whelp had spunk. He wanted to see if this behavior would repeat itself.
Instead, she watched a passing dragonfly and fiddled with the grass, feigning sudden disinterest in her subject.
It took another minute for Sesshomaru to realize that so long as he was watching her the girl wasn't going to reattempt her venture. And she's not going to talk. With an inward sigh at having to humor a child, he looked in the other direction.
Again came the series of pats. A little slower this time. One. Two. Then she withdrew.
Sesshomaru kept his attention averted. Why wasn't she reaching for his pelt? What could have been so fascinating about his hand? Perhaps that he only had one? No, the girl had already studied that avenue yesterday with one sure tug on his empty sleeve. At that time he needed only glare and she got the hint.
Just when he was about to give up on the purpose, she tapped again. This time letting her hand rest in his palm.
Sesshomaru looked down. The girl's little pink hand resting in the whole of his palm. He curled two claws inward. The tiny hand bunched into a fist. But Sesshomaru simply touched the tips of his fingers to her knuckles…and tapped.
Her fist flinched. Then slowly uncurled. Sesshomaru checked the girl's expression.
A smile bloomed on her face just as she drew back her hand again. This time she patted once, only once, and let her fingers hover over Sesshomaru's palm. When the claw-tipped digit tapped back she laughed. Laughed as if they were partaking in some child's game. The daiyokai frowned. Never had he made anyone laugh before.
Though Sesshomaru found no particular amusement in the situation, he made no recession. If she had managed to laugh just the other night from the Obon, perhaps there was more to this new farce than was being presented.
She knows I'm not posing a threat, he concluded.
It wasn't the point of just touching him that the little girl was trying out. Rather, it seemed she deliberately sought out his most common means of attack. And played with them.
She trusts.
.
With an easy grace, Sesshomaru took up a seat beside Rin on the fallen trunk, resting his hand on his knee. Palm-up, of course.
It took Rin a moment before she noticed the silent offer. She tapped twice and, when Sesshomaru made no objection, let her hand lay in his the second time. Even at her age with the tips of her fingers making it to the other side of his larger hand, hers still felt so small.
"I guess I should tell you," Rin began. "I'm…"
When her voice trailed, Jaken opened his beak to hurry her on. And quickly decided against it as amber eyes flashed his way. Sesshomaru didn't turn to face Rin. Whatever she had to say he wanted her to be without inhibition.
Her hand curled up into a fist. Tense.
"I'm going out to Mikan beach tomorrow."
Now Sesshomaru turned and arched a brow. Is that all? He touched two talons to the tops of Rin's knuckles.
"I'll be with a friend who has familiarity of the area," she added. Even though she was being honest with Lord Sesshomaru, her stomach still churned. She wished she could just spit out what was on her mind this whole time. But saying "I've fallen for a demon," just didn't have quite the ring it did yesterday. A glance Inuyasha's way on her return had been enough. The history between Sesshomaru and his half-brother still carried an uneasy rift, one Rin didn't want to hew into her relationship with the daiyokai.
Something told her that Sesshomaru thought likewise. That if there was a romantic interest to be found in a yokai partner, he would sooner kill that being than deal with Rin as someone he merely "tolerated."
As unflappable as the dog-demon often was, Rin was no stranger to the sight of him losing his temper. And once those pretty gold eyes bled scarlet someone usually wound up dead. If anything, Rin wanted to enjoy one last excursion with Kichiruka before all hell broke loose.
Sesshomaru mulled over the information Rin had given him. It was considerably more than she had been sharing of late. And still he wasn't so easily pacified. These were no longer the days when he could set her down somewhere and tell her to wait until he returned. Rin had the habit of wandering off now. "Do I know this person?"
"No," Rin confessed. "But I'll be safe."
She would meet many people the daiyokai wouldn't know or even be there to weed out. It was a troubling concept. Did he trust her? No, came Sesshomaru's staunch reply.
But she had told him exactly where she would be. And with company she knew. Discretely, Sesshomaru sniffed twice and tried sifting through the variety of scents broadcasting Rin's emotions: anticipation, anxiety, hope, and trust.
"Take Ah-Un."
The way Sesshomaru spoke clarified that this wasn't a point of debate. The best Rin could do was accept the offer as graciously as possible and figure out what to do with the dragon from there.
"Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru."
He stood – a cold and rigid motion. Fine, as you will.
Rin sighed. I'm sorry.
"What's wrong?" Jaken asked. Sesshomaru had just proffered his generosity and the brat had accepted without rebuttal, so why was there still tension charging the air? The imp stifled a sigh of his own. He could've sworn you needed subtitles where his lord and Rin were concerned.
"Get your rest," Sesshomaru instructed. Then, he focused a surge of yoki on the remains of his shoulder guard. Slowly, particles of tempered metal stretched, gathered and reworked themselves to repair the armor. Spikes gradually twisted and reformed on the bridged surface. Sesshomaru glanced back at Rin.
"You fight better with it."
.
A/N: Thank you all for reading! Your patronage is most appreciated. And for one of my drafts as to how the Sess/Kichi meeting might go: feral-instinct. deviantart. com/#/d2yfooi (please remove spaces before use).