InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moving Pictures ❯ Houseguest ( Chapter 13 )

A/N: Thank you to all of my reviewers for the feedback. You don't know how much it means to me!

 

FFnet: Shock1119, Tinnueth, forgotten angel, Lucifer001, gothic-ember, agent-doo

 

Mmorg: Jovian Fleet Commander, moonwave, Kaneasami

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 13 - Houseguest

 

Charlotte sat at the kitchen table sipping strong black coffee and working the daily crossword. She had friends that would drink nothing but Starbucks, but she preferred the cans of beans at Trader Joe's and really didn't see what the fuss was about. No one else was up yet, and she was enjoying the relative quiet of the early morning after the ruckus of last night.

 

She could hardly believe that Charlie had pulled that stunt. Though a favorite game of theirs as children, he hadn't done it in years. The object of the game was to startle the other out of sleep and see how high you could get him to jump. Extra points if he buried his claws in the ceiling and clung there. Their mother had hated the game and had doled out wicked bites for both of them on many occasions. She had blamed their mischievousness on their father's human blood, saying: “Proper werelions do not play practical jokes! You should remain calm, proud and aloof. This is all your father's fault.”

 

Most of what Charlotte knew about werelions and youkai in general was from speeches like this. After her father had died, her mother had started to fade, still providing for her children but distancing herself from them and the rest of the world. Apart from the werelion language, which her mother had said would be understood by all weres, she really didn't know much about her people. She doubted that her mother had to turn every full moon like her brother, father and she did. Now that she had met Sesshomaru, a full demon, she had a strong suspicion that she'd done it just to keep an eye on them.

 

The only thing her mother had been very clear about was mating. “Weres don't marry, they mate, and once it's done, there is no divorcing. Try to find a were to mate. Too much human blood would create problems for the cubs. They wouldn't be able to take their beast forms and would be forced to take a pure human form periodically.” Charlotte had shivered in horror, exchanging glances with her twin. Even in their most human form, they still retained their keen senses and reflexes. Charlotte put down the crossword, a thought occurring to her. Inuyasha, Sesshomaru's half-brother, was half demon. Did that mean he became human?

 

With a rustle of fabric, Sesshomaru descended the stairs and approached the table. Back in his white haori and hakama, he was his usual unruffled self.

 

“Sesshomaru, can I ask you something?” He cocked his head but didn't answer.

 

“Does your brother ever become human?”

 

He gazed at her, wondering from where the question came. “Yes, he becomes human as you take your youkai form. Do you become human?”

 

“Full human? No, that would suck.”

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

“Oh, I was just remembering something my mother told me. Not a big deal. Want some coffee?”

 

“This Sesshomaru does not eat human food, as you should not.”

 

Shrugging, she sipped her coffee. “Suit yourself.” The door to the office opened and Charlie shuffled into the bathroom, grunting a good morning in their direction. Moments later, the sound of running water filtered through the door. Her ears flattened, “I'm sorry about last night.”

 

Sesshomaru nodded and took a seat at the table, lifting a corner of the newspaper and peering at it curiously. The paper was very thin and fragile and was covered in smudging ink that smelled bad. In response to his unasked question, she explained, “Newspaper. It describes current events all over the world, has advertisements, entertainment, and such.”

 

“How current is this `news'?” he asked, studying a picture of a human sobbing into the arms of another human. Rubble surrounded them, as if they were in the middle of a battlefield.

 

“Depends; some of it happened yesterday. The concerts and stuff will happen on the date posted,” she glanced at the photo and grimaced.

 

“Human news.”

 

“Yeah, as far as I know.”

 

A wicked grin lit her face and she walked to the sink, pulling a plastic pitcher out of the cupboard and filling it with cold water. Tiptoeing to the bathroom door, she put a finger to her lips in the universal sign to keep quiet. She palmed the doorknob and eased the door open, slipping through the smallest opening she could. A hoarse shout of outrage and a heavy thud accompanied Charlotte barreling back out of the bathroom. Charlie burst out a moment later, soapy and furious.

 

“Bitch!” he made a grab for her but missed by a handbreadth.

 

“You're dripping on the floor!” she shrieked, skidding through the kitchen and around the counter bar. Snatching up a kitchen towel, she twirled it and snapped it at him all in one fluid movement. The end cracked against his skin, leaving an angry welt. He yelped and danced backward. Snapping the towel at him and laughing wildly, she herded him back into the bathroom. Almost slipping in the puddle on the floor, Charlie backpedaled into the bathroom, slamming the door.

 

Charlotte smirked smugly at the door, and then used the towel to mop up the soapy water. Tossing the wet towel into the sink, she took her seat at the table and picked up the crossword, meeting Sesshomaru's bored stare with a quick shrug. They spent the next fifteen minutes in companionably silence, Charlotte working the puzzle and Sesshomaru flipping through the paper and looking at the pictures.

 

Charlie stomped out of the bathroom, poured himself a cup of coffee, and joined them at the table, flopping down in the chair between them. “Truce?” he asked his sister.

 

“Hmm,” she continued to concentrate on her puzzle.

 

“What are we doing today?”

 

“We?”

 

“Let's go to the beach.”

 

Charlotte looked up from her puzzle. “Oh, I wouldn't mind. Which one?” At her brother's shrug, she switched to Japanese. “Do you like the beach, Sesshomaru?” He gazed at her emotionlessly, not understanding the point of her question.

 

“Quite the chatterbox, isn't he,” Charlie remarked, slurping down the last of his coffee.

 

XxxxxxxxxX

 

Sesshomaru stared at the strange yellow contraption with unease, not sure of what to make of it. It looked like a small, horseless cart but had a piece of glass sticking up on one side and smelled of pungent tar. Other carts were in this cave they called a `garage', of all different shapes and sizes. He jumped when the thing honked, lights in the front and back flashing on and off. He had a feeling that he would like this thing even less than the `elevator', which had given him the `creeps', as the cat put it. The parking garage was also unsettling, being underground and surrounded by formed rock and metal.

 

Charlie dropped a blue box onto the backseat and vaulted over the edge, taking a seat next to the box. “I can't believe you bought a Mini. Didn't you say that size is important?” He grinned and twitched his eyebrows suggestively, speaking their werelion language so that Sesshomaru could join their conversations if he so chose

 

“Size is important, but so is the handling,” she quipped.

 

“So is my theory correct?” he asked with a conspiratorial wink and a jerk of his head toward the dog demon.

 

“I wouldn't know.”

 

“You'll tell me when you do?” He laughed when she rolled her eyes. “You're pretty brave to leave it in the garage with the top down.”

 

Shrugging, Charlotte opened the passenger side door, gesturing for Sesshomaru to get in. “Security is pretty tight here.” She closed the door after the tall demon had settled into the bucket seat in front.

 

She took her own seat behind the wheel and started the ignition. A tense hand on her thigh made her glance up, meeting frantic golden eyes. She smiled back reassuringly and patted the hand. On impulse, she leaned toward him and rubbed his cheek with hers. “It's just a car. Don't worry.”

 

“Awwww,” Charlie groaned from the back.

 

“Shut your pie-hole, Charlie.” Charlotte pulled away and shifted into reverse, backing the car out of her spot, noting with concern that the hand on her thigh was tightening. `Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.' She started to feel nails when she pushed the button to open the garage door, the wrought iron rumbling and screeching open.

 

Once they were out of the underground parking structure and moving through the street, Sesshomaru began to relax his grip. Staring around in fascination, he watched a multitude of vehicles and pedestrians move through the congested streets. Buildings soared above them, taller than anything he had seen and seemed to press down with a claustrophobic weight. Winking in the harsh sunlight like a faceted gem, a giant silver bird roared overhead. Shop windows displayed a multitude of products and signs in brightly painted foreign letters. Though deafeningly chaotic, he was now able to associate the sounds of city with what actually made them. If this is what she was used to, then he knew what the cat meant when she had said that the forest was “too quiet”.

 

They stopped moving and he glanced around for the reason. Following the cat's line of sight, he saw hanging lanterns with colored lights and glass. The red light was brightest and she was watching it intently, drumming her blunt human fingers on the wheel.

 

“Aren't you a pretty one,” a weather-beaten old man with grizzled hair and missing teeth grinned at him from curb, shuffling forward and emitting an odor pungent enough to rival a garbage heap. The man was rotting from the inside, dying from a poison he could not identify. Though he didn't understand the words, Sesshomaru recognized the gleam in his eye and snarled, showing fang. The man shrieked and backed away holding his hands in front of his face.

 

Charlotte glanced over at the man, then at Sesshomaru, raising a questioning eyebrow but not seeming surprised or concerned.

 

“Light's changed,” Charlie spoke up from the back, and Charlotte let the matter drop, the car lurching forward with the rest of the vehicles around them. She missed his hand when he finally withdrew it but was glad that he was comfortable enough to do so. `We'll see when we get to the freeway,' she thought, taking the onramp and gaining speed.

 

She pulled into the beach parking lot, automatically taking note of the slot number. From the corner of her eye, she watched the inuyoukai release his hair, which he'd twisted into a rope and held down against the wind. Her heart constricted for a moment; he was simply the most beautiful man she had met. Impressed that the dog demon had remained calm throughout the entire road trip, she nodded solemnly, showing respect. He accepted it with a nod of his own, silently recognizing her gesture for what it was.

 

Charlie hopped out of the car, cooler in hand, and took a deep breath of salty marine air. “So, why Venice?”

 

Charlotte shrugged, “I thought that Sesshomaru wouldn't stand out as much.” The stubborn tai-youkai had refused to wear jeans out of the house, let alone swim trunks, so was still dressed in his flowing haori and hakama. He wasn't able to hide his crests, either, so she hoped that people would assume they were tattoos, as Nestor had. He would stand out, but since Venice Beach was a haven for the bizarre, his outlandish appearance wouldn't attract that much attention. A bronze-skinned woman with violently blue hair and an enormous dragon tattoo that covered most of her back skated by the parking lot in a thong bikini and mirrored wrap-around sunglasses. Yep, he'd be fine here.

 

Sesshomaru sat on the towel in the sand, one leg curled under him, the other propped up, with his arm resting gently on his knee. Staring out at the waves crashing against the surf, he tried to ignore the state of undress of the cat, lying stretched out beside him. She was `sunbathing', she had told him curtly when he'd growled at her for undressing. She'd pulled off her sleeveless top and untied her skirt, leaving in place only enough material, tied on with string, to cover her most private areas. More than indecent, it was disgraceful and… tantalizing. Somehow, the scandalous material managed to cover her crests, but the unbidden mental image of the graceful whorls on her hips did nothing to help his state of mind. Another growl slipped out as he caught sight of a human male walking by, eyeing the cat's almost bare bottom. He ignored the curious looks that people gave him.

 

“I told you to put on those swimming trunks,” she murmured sleepily.

 

“How can your brother allow you to dress so in public?” he grouched back.

 

“Take a look around. Everyone dresses like this at the beach. And my brother has no say over what I do,” she replied, turning over so that she could get a little sun on her front. She didn't tan easily and almost never burned, but she still loved the ritual of sunbathing.

 

He glanced around: it was true, there was more flesh exposed on this beach than he had seen in the last century. At least the air was cleaner here - the stench of the city was washed out to sea in tendrils of brown cloud. Why had she wanted to get back here so badly? Dirty, smelly, crowded, overrun with filthy, unclad humans, it seemed more a like place to avoid.

 

“What is it that that attracts you to this place?” he asked, watching a large bird hover above the water as if held by a thread.

 

Her eyes cracked open, “Venice Beach or LA in general?”

 

“In general.”

 

She shrugged, shading her eyes regardless of the sunglasses she wore. “I like the activity and diversity… the weather can't be beat. I also have a good job, and that's more than a lot of people can say.”

 

“It's not fitting that you work.”

 

“Have to work to pay bills. I live alone and support myself.” She smirked at his raised eyebrow, “Charlie is just visiting; he lives several hundred miles north.”

 

“Do you enjoy working?”

 

“I used to. Now, it… passes the time, makes me feel useful. I guess I'd get bored if I weren't working.”

 

“Your brother should be providing for you,”

 

She barked out a laugh and he tried not to notice how it made her breasts jiggle. “Wrong century, hon.”

 

He supposed it could be true, that women no longer relied on their male relatives. The cat seemed to consider herself an equal to her brother and himself, one of her more infuriating and stimulating attributes.

 

“What is your brother's theory?” he asked idly, remembering the conversation in the garage.

 

Color suffused her face, “Uhhh… it really isn't that important.”

 

An enormous man, skin the color of polished ebony with bulging muscles and veins, sauntered by. Hanging on his arm was a woman, equally dark and muscled, her straw-colored hair plaited into long, thin ropes. He cocked his head, intrigued. Charlotte propped herself up on her elbows to see what had interested him, glad of a chance to change the subject.

 

“Body builders.” He looked at her askance. “Seriously, they train hard to look that way and complete in strength contests and stuff.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I don't know, ask Charlie. He dated one once.”

 

“Ask me what? I've got sand where the sun don't shine,” Charlie complained as he adjusted his shorts and took a seat on the towel next to his twin, speaking in the demon language they had in common.

 

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte grimaced. “Thanks for the visual.”

 

“Hey!” Narrowing his eyes, he glared at the dog demon. “Are you staring at my sister's boobs?”

 

Sesshomaru straightened, eyes flashing, “This Sesshomaru does not-“

 

Charlie grinned and clapped him on the back, “Ha! Made you talk!”

 

Groaning, Charlotte covered her face with her hands. “God, Charlie, you nincompoop. I am so though apologizing for you.” Charlie snickered and poked her in the ribs, making her jump and sit up. He poked her again and she cuffed him over the head. “Knock it off!”

 

Lunging forward, he caught her in the abdomen with his shoulder and swept her off of the towel. She shrieked as he took off at a run, straight toward the pounding surf. “No, Charlie! I'm not wearing the right bikini! Put me down!” She flailed her legs frantically, bouncing on his shoulder. “Sesshomaru, help-“

 

With a mighty heave, Charlie launched her into the air and she hit the water with a splash. Grinning like an idiot, he ran back up the beach to his towel and fished an icy soda out of the cooler, taking his sister's place on the towel.

 

Charlotte stayed in neck-deep in the water until she was certain that her top was properly retied. “Truce my ass,” she muttered, kicking back with her feet, letting the current drag her away from the shore. Now that she was in the water, she might as well enjoy herself.

 

The waves were a little bigger further down the beach and she swam parallel to the shore, letting the tide wash her alternately closer and further away from dry land. An especially large wave rolled toward her and pointed her nose toward land, riding the wave until the water was scarcely knee deep. Changing position, she swam back out, letting the current do most of the work. She rode the waves in and out until her lips were blue and her sinuses burned. Instead of following the tide back out, she stood and fought the drag until she stood on dry sand.

 

Glancing around, she realized that she was a little further down the beach than she had realized. She sighed and hurried back up the shore, scanning the crowded beach for her little group. A few minutes later, she spotted them, tensely staring out to sea. She grinned, `They don't see or smell me yet.'

 

Stealing forward, she circled around to the back of the towel and tiptoed toward them. Only a foot away, she shook herself, sending salt water flying. Sesshomaru flinched, his lips curling off of his teeth. Charlie yelped, shielding his face with his arms. Grinning smugly, Charlotte shoved her brother out of her spot and sat cross-legged.

 

“Damn, Charlotte, I just got dry,” he picked himself up out of the sand and pulled another towel out of their beach bag, wiping ineffectively at the sand clinging to the moisture on his arms.

 

She mock-scowled at Sesshomaru, who had regained his composure and watched her with a bored expression. “Some help you were.” His eyes slid away from her and back out to sea.

 

XxxxxxxxxxX

 

Charlotte fussed around in her freezer, trying to find something suitable for dinner. She'd given up on the fridge; too many containers with unidentifiable contents. Charlie wandered up behind her, fresh out of the shower. “Well, I've got frozen pizza and frozen entrées,” she said over her shoulder.

 

“We could order out,” he rubbed his cheek over hers in greeting and opened the fridge, allowing her to scoot out of the way before pulling out a beer. She nodded and eased a box back in place, trying not to disturb the items crammed inside. If she weren't careful, the freezer would become self-dispensing.

 

“I think your guy needs help with the shower,” he added as the twisted off the top and dropped the cap in the garbage.

 

She sighed and wiped her hands on her skirt. “He's not my guy.”

 

Heading toward the bathroom, she wondered what could be the problem. The door was closed, so she knocked politely. “Charlie said you had a problem?”

 

“Enter,” Sesshomaru intoned over the rushing water.

 

She did, stopping short at the sight of him in his hakama only. Smooth, pale skin was stretched taught over clearly defined muscles. Hairless, his chest seemed carved out of alabaster. He could have been a statue of a Greek god, broken arm and all. Clearing her throat, she dragged her eyes up to his face. “Uhh, what…?”

 

He pointed at the water streaming down the drain in her small, tiled shower. “This is not a proper bath: there is no place to sit or soak.”

 

She pursed her lips, remembering his wonderful bathhouse. “You stand under the water and let it wash away the grime,” she put her hand in the water to demonstrate. “Use this to wash your hair,” she pointed to the bottle of shampoo, “then this to condition and detangle it,” she pointed to the conditioner. “Put this soap into the poof and scrunch it up to wash your body,” she mimed with the body wash and loofa. “Okay?” she gave him a bright smile, wondering if he expected someone to wash his hair as Shoko had done for her.

 

He nodded but watched the spray of water with a dubious eye. “You might like it,” she encouraged. “I think it's invigorating.”

 

“Invigorating,” he repeated, turning the full force of those golden eyes on her.

 

Suddenly aware that she was only wearing a bikini and a wrap-around skirt, she swallowed hard. “Yeah…”

 

He advanced on her slowly and she remained rooted to the spot, not sure that her legs would move even if she wanted them to. Bending his head toward her, he whispered in her slightly pointed humanoid ear, “What else do you find… invigorating?”

 

She couldn't help purring, nor pressing her cheek to his and rubbing the length of his delicate cheekbone. Sesshomaru grazed fangs down her neck and she dropped her head to the side, submitting to his ministrations. Through the growing haze her in mind, she knew that he needed this, to lead and dominate. He must feel off balance in her world, a frightening position for a demon lord as powerful as he was.

 

He let himself smile against her neck; finally, he felt in control of the situation, even if it were just eliciting the responses he wanted from this woman. Covering her pulse point with his mouth, he bit down slowly, relishing the resistance of her skin before it broke. He snaked an arm around her waist, catching her before her knees gave out, her scent spiking with a trill of fear and heady desire. The combination teased his instincts, goading him on to explore her further. With great satisfaction, he realized something that he should have known before: she'd never had a youkai lover.

 

Caressing the oozing wound with his tongue, he pressed her body against him, growling softly when she tried to brace herself against his chest with her hands. She went limp and he rumbled his approval, nipping at the base of her collarbone. Her purr intensified as his mouth moved lower, taking advantage of the flesh left bare by her top and searing her skin with a trail of kisses. Her body hummed with energy, heat radiating from her core outward to her limbs.

 

“Charlotte?” Charlie pounded on the door. “How about this Sala-Thai place? It says they deliver.”

 

Sesshomaru growled low against her chest and she tried to blink away the fog. “O-okay,” she managed breathlessly, not really caring what she agreed to.

 

“You guys know we're in the middle of a drought, right?”

 

“Thank you, Ranger Charlie,” she bit back, the tingling in her body receding with each heartbeat.

 

Sesshomaru released her and stepped back, savoring the taste of her blood. Though not a mating mark, the bite would still ward off other males. Mating was out of the question anyway, she was a mix-breed and did not have noble blood, but it had been too long since he'd bedded a female and this one in particular was… invigorating.

 

Charlotte rolled her shoulder, the bite already closing, and took a shaky breath. “So…”

 

“Charlotte?” her brother's anxious voice chased the thought from her head and she whirled, flinging the door open to see what had scared him. A blue light illuminated the room but Charlie was nowhere in sight.

 

“Charlie?” she called hesitantly, fingers of panic crawling up her spine. “Charlie? This isn't funny.” One glance at the painting confirmed her fears. She dashed back into the bathroom and shut off the faucet.

 

“The painting is moving again and I think Charlie went through it,” she gasped out. Sesshomaru brushed past her, grabbing her wrist as he left the bathroom.

 

“So it is,” he cocked his head as he studied the landscape of his feudal mansion, the honeyed light of sunset turning his silver hair to gold. Charlotte reached out, running her fingers through the silky strands, her mind trying to lock onto something important through the worry. His eyes slid toward her, wondering at the liberty she took.

 

“Sesshomaru, what time was it when you came through the painting?”

 

“What time?”

 

“Was it sunset?” He nodded slowly, realization dawning behind his eyes. “It was when I came through the first time, and probably the second as well.”

 

“Come,” he tugged lightly on her wrist. Taking her hand, he laced his fingers through hers and brought their hands up to touch the painting together. Normally, he wouldn't have preferred this casual familiarity, but he didn't really know how the thing worked and did not want to be separated on the trip back.

 

“You know, neither of us are really dressed,” Charlotte muttered as the floor slid out from under them.