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fandomweekly2021-08-15 10:26 am
ladygriddlebone) wrote in fandomweekly2021-08-15 10:26 am
Entry tags:
[#104] Close Quarters (InuYasha)
Theme Prompt: #104 - Only One Room
Title: Close Quarters
Fandom: InuYasha
Rating/Warnings: PG, some innuendo
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 836 words
Summary: Sango isn't sure about the accommodations. Miroku's feelings are decidedly less mixed.
“Well, here we go then,” the man said, gesturing toward the open doorway. He kept his expression neutral but still sounded dubious.
One look told Sango why. This wasn’t so much a guest room as a space that had mostly been used for storage and only very recently—and hurriedly—repurposed. It might be the only place in this tiny village where visitors could be accommodated, but it was also in relatively poor shape. And small.
And she would have to share it with the monk.
She tried not to let the trepidation show on her face as Miroku assured the local man that the room would serve just fine and sent him on his way.
She gave serious consideration to walking back to Kaede’s village in the dark, realizing only belatedly that the monk had preceded her into the room. He looked the place over, seeming entirely too pleased with himself for her liking.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Is it too late for second thoughts?” The words blurted out before she could stop them.
This had all seemed like a good idea earlier. The people of this village needed a youkai exterminated, and she and Miroku had little to do except wait for Kagome and Inuyasha to return through the magic well. She had not anticipated that they would spend the night anywhere other than under the stars, like they always did when they were with the rest of the group. Spending the night in close quarters with Miroku somehow seemed more dangerous than any campsite out in the open.
From the look on his face, she guessed that he had not considered this possibility. For just a moment, he almost looked hurt. It happened so fast that she might only have imagined it.
Sango hesitated a moment longer—long enough to hear thunder rumbling ominously in the distance, threatening a downpour—before stepping into the room. She slid the door shut behind her and hoped for the best. The room seemed even smaller with the two of them in it. The sight of the two futons, so close together that they might as well have been only one, left her feeling on edge.
Alone with Miroku, with the whole night ahead of them and no battles to fight or monsters to kill, with no friends to serve as an excuse against intimacy, Sango was swept up in an uncomfortable mix of nervousness and excitement. How many times had she yearned for a chance like this?
Yet now that she had it, she wasn’t sure what to do. Reason told her one thing, while her heart demanded another. If she waited and did not seize this chance, they might both be dead before another opportunity arose.
Outside, rain began to fall. The gentle sound should have been soothing. It was anything but.
“Houshi-sama…”
“Are you really having second thoughts?”
She fumbled for words. “I…”
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” he promised.
That was exactly what she was afraid of: what she wanted him to do.
“Don’t think I don’t ever want to,” she began, unaccountably self-conscious. “But…”
“Sango, you are welcome in my bed whenever you want to be there,” he told her, a smile teasing at his lips. “Even if it’s not today.”
This did absolutely nothing to make her feel less flustered.
“I can’t risk becoming pregnant,” she managed to choke out, her face burning. “Not now.” He knew that, too, and had practically said as much when he proposed. Until their journey was over and his curse was lifted, there could be no children.
But he had an answer for that, too: “There are plenty of other fun things we can do.”
Her face was so hot she knew it must be bright red by now, so she buried it in her hands. Miroku chuckled and drew her close; she let him, half expecting some inappropriate comment or overly intimate caress, but he kept his hands firmly in safe territory for now.
“I am only teasing,” he assured her.
She nodded, and tried to calm herself.
With her head pressed against his chest like this, she could hear that his heart was racing, just like hers. He seemed so sure of himself that she would never have guessed he might be as nervous about this as she was.
For a while they just listened to the rain come down outside. Then: “Unless you don’t want me to be only teasing.”
She laughed helplessly at that; he sounded so very hopeful.
“For now, can we just stay like this?”
He held her tighter, nuzzling his face against her hair. “Whatever you want.”
Somehow, she felt better after that. Their future was still as uncertain as ever, but in this moment they had each other. Whatever they decided to do tonight would be enough.
And one day, she could only hope, the monsters and curses would be behind them and they would have all the time they wanted.
Title: Close Quarters
Fandom: InuYasha
Rating/Warnings: PG, some innuendo
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 836 words
Summary: Sango isn't sure about the accommodations. Miroku's feelings are decidedly less mixed.
“Well, here we go then,” the man said, gesturing toward the open doorway. He kept his expression neutral but still sounded dubious.
One look told Sango why. This wasn’t so much a guest room as a space that had mostly been used for storage and only very recently—and hurriedly—repurposed. It might be the only place in this tiny village where visitors could be accommodated, but it was also in relatively poor shape. And small.
And she would have to share it with the monk.
She tried not to let the trepidation show on her face as Miroku assured the local man that the room would serve just fine and sent him on his way.
She gave serious consideration to walking back to Kaede’s village in the dark, realizing only belatedly that the monk had preceded her into the room. He looked the place over, seeming entirely too pleased with himself for her liking.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“Is it too late for second thoughts?” The words blurted out before she could stop them.
This had all seemed like a good idea earlier. The people of this village needed a youkai exterminated, and she and Miroku had little to do except wait for Kagome and Inuyasha to return through the magic well. She had not anticipated that they would spend the night anywhere other than under the stars, like they always did when they were with the rest of the group. Spending the night in close quarters with Miroku somehow seemed more dangerous than any campsite out in the open.
From the look on his face, she guessed that he had not considered this possibility. For just a moment, he almost looked hurt. It happened so fast that she might only have imagined it.
Sango hesitated a moment longer—long enough to hear thunder rumbling ominously in the distance, threatening a downpour—before stepping into the room. She slid the door shut behind her and hoped for the best. The room seemed even smaller with the two of them in it. The sight of the two futons, so close together that they might as well have been only one, left her feeling on edge.
Alone with Miroku, with the whole night ahead of them and no battles to fight or monsters to kill, with no friends to serve as an excuse against intimacy, Sango was swept up in an uncomfortable mix of nervousness and excitement. How many times had she yearned for a chance like this?
Yet now that she had it, she wasn’t sure what to do. Reason told her one thing, while her heart demanded another. If she waited and did not seize this chance, they might both be dead before another opportunity arose.
Outside, rain began to fall. The gentle sound should have been soothing. It was anything but.
“Houshi-sama…”
“Are you really having second thoughts?”
She fumbled for words. “I…”
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” he promised.
That was exactly what she was afraid of: what she wanted him to do.
“Don’t think I don’t ever want to,” she began, unaccountably self-conscious. “But…”
“Sango, you are welcome in my bed whenever you want to be there,” he told her, a smile teasing at his lips. “Even if it’s not today.”
This did absolutely nothing to make her feel less flustered.
“I can’t risk becoming pregnant,” she managed to choke out, her face burning. “Not now.” He knew that, too, and had practically said as much when he proposed. Until their journey was over and his curse was lifted, there could be no children.
But he had an answer for that, too: “There are plenty of other fun things we can do.”
Her face was so hot she knew it must be bright red by now, so she buried it in her hands. Miroku chuckled and drew her close; she let him, half expecting some inappropriate comment or overly intimate caress, but he kept his hands firmly in safe territory for now.
“I am only teasing,” he assured her.
She nodded, and tried to calm herself.
With her head pressed against his chest like this, she could hear that his heart was racing, just like hers. He seemed so sure of himself that she would never have guessed he might be as nervous about this as she was.
For a while they just listened to the rain come down outside. Then: “Unless you don’t want me to be only teasing.”
She laughed helplessly at that; he sounded so very hopeful.
“For now, can we just stay like this?”
He held her tighter, nuzzling his face against her hair. “Whatever you want.”
Somehow, she felt better after that. Their future was still as uncertain as ever, but in this moment they had each other. Whatever they decided to do tonight would be enough.
And one day, she could only hope, the monsters and curses would be behind them and they would have all the time they wanted.