December Drabbles Day 18 - Liquid Courage
Banner fan art by the amazing @sayuri-liu
For @shortfry. Thank you for being amazing and for sharing your talent with us! You're such a wonderful person! Hope you have peaceful end of the year. 💙💙
For the 12 Days of Promptmas, Day 5: Warm Sake.
Inuyasha was not stupid. He knew that plenty of people might vehemently disagree with that statement — and his insufferable ass of a brother would be the first in line to do so. But he had seen the stolen glances. The smiles he couldn’t quite smother when she wasn’t looking. He’d seen the way the impenetrable amber of his brother’s eyes had grown warm and soft.
Hell, he couldn’t blame him. Inuyasha brooded into the cup in his hands, then raised it to his lips. The warm sake soothed him as he swallowed, filling him with glowing heat. And a sense of purpose.
Sesshoumaru had been clueless enough not to pursue his interest. Sure, he was a jerk. But Inuyasha wouldn’t mind giving him a helpful shove to move things along. After all, if there was one person on the planet who could soften the sharp edges of any jerk, it was Kagome. And Inuyasha was the living and breathing example of her influence.
It was about time to return the favour, anyway. He owed her too much. Out of all of them, she had probably sacrificed the most. She deserved all the happiness she could get. Inuyasha would guarantee it.
Inuyasha levered himself up. Swayed just a little before he swaggered towards his goal. He swiped another cup and a new bottle of warmed sake on his way to his brother.
He loomed at the edge of the village, looking on at the merriment of the winter festival. Always keeping himself apart, the idiot. But his gaze was tracking Kagome, as she laughed and danced and chatted with everyone. The heart of the party, as she so often was.
Inuyasha shoved the cup into his brother’s hand, then poured it full before topping up his own.
He arched his stupid snobby eyebrow at him but made no remarks. Silently, Sesshoumaru sipped his sake .
Inuyasha took one last gulp of liquid courage before embarking on his mission.
“You’re an idiot,” he informed his brother.
Sesshoumaru paused, the cup hovering near his lips. “That is rather an alarming assessment, coming from you.”
Inuyasha ignored his hoity-toity insults. “You need to do something about it.”
Sesshoumaru’s claws clinked against the cup as his grip tightened. Abruptly, he was standing straighter and stiffer next to him, as if someone had just shoved that pole up his ass deeper in. His usually cool amber eyes were wide with surprise. Then, he quickly looked away.
“I do not know what you are implying,” he replied, his voice carefully neutral.
Inuyasha snorted his sake . The bastard was blushing!
“Don’t give me that evasive shit. I’ve seen the way you stare at her.”
Sesshoumaru drank his sake . Clearly avoiding answering him. Keh!
“There should be less staring and more doing ,” Inuyasha advised him. “She’s worth the effort.”
The amber eyes flashed. “I am aware of her worth,” Sesshoumaru snapped.
Inuyasha blinked. Well. That was interesting. He grabbed the bottle and poured Sesshoumaru another cup. “Then what’s the hold-up?”
Sesshoumaru shook his head and frowned at his drink. “I am not sure how... That is, I have never... What if she does not... What if we do not suit?”
Inuyasha’s mind boggled, as he tried to both make sense out of his brother’s stammered fragments and understand what such a fumbling response revealed. Inuyasha heaved a sigh. This was a bigger mess than he could’ve imagined. He‘d meant to give his brother’s ass a good encouraging kick, not hold his hand and pat him on the back.
“Listen,” he said gruffly. “If I didn’t think you’d be good for her, I wouldn’t be here telling you to go get the girl.”
Sesshoumaru’s expression remained dubious.
Inuyasha heroically resisted the urge to smack his brother’s head. “Also, I’m not here for you .” Well, maybe he was, a little bit. But he’d never admit that, least of all to him . “I’m doing this for her. Because I think she’s interested.”
Oh, he had his attention now. The mask had slipped and the raw mixture of hope and longing on his brother’s face was both unsettling and deeply reassuring. He was doing the right thing.
“Truly?” Sesshoumaru asked, lowering his cup.
Inuyasha grinned. And patted his brother on the shoulder. “Go get the girl, you idiot.”
He watched Sesshoumaru go. Pause at the table where the feast had been laid out. Pick up a bowl and carefully peruse the food on offer, before collecting the choicest bits into the bowl. And then carry his offering to Kagome.
Inuyasha shook his head. Maybe he should have another talk with his brother at some point and explain to him the differences between youkai and human courting rituals.
Across the village, Kagome took the bowl and gave Sesshoumaru a brilliant smile.
Or maybe the two of them would be fine, after all. They’d figure it out.
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