Author's Note: Welcome to my new little series that I will occasionally dabble in when the mood strikes. This is basically just little ficlets of all of the married life scenes of Sess/Kag that I wasn't able to fit in with 'Avenoir' (coughsIgotlazycoughs).
This will be a lighter angst than 'Avenoir' since I'll be elaborating more on their "happier" years with each other as well as introducing the children I've alluded to previously. Honestly, I really just wanted an excuse to write bittersweet married!Sess/Kag without having to set up the whole thing. :P Side warning: This series is very low on my priority list (I'd started in early 2017, if that's any kind of indication), since it's really just a bunch of loose side stories of 'Avenoir', so don't expect frequent updates. Fun fact! Yesterday was the third anniversary of 'Avenoir'. Hee.
(And yes, I do recommend reading 'Avenoir' first, if you haven't already.)
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Keyframe
by Tsuki no Tennyo
Honeymoon
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keyframe – n. a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your life
– The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
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It wasn't the sound of the ocean waves crashing outside their resort room that woke her up, but the sudden tightening of her newly wedded husband's embrace that stirred her out of her light slumber. After several repeated blinks to adjust her eyes to the dark room, she looked down at the arm wrapped around her bare waist that held her close to his chest all night long.
Her finger traced the markings on his arm; he had dropped his concealment spell the night before, as he always did even during their "courting" time when he was alone with her. She had preferred it, and he in turn was grateful, though he had never expressed the sentiment aloud, but she could see the smallest of smile on his face and the spark of life in his eyes.
Her finger glided down the stripes, dancing across the back of his hand before gently touching a single claw. His finger twitched.
"It is not even dawn yet, Kagome," she heard her husband—how strangely lovely that word sounded, she mused—murmured softly, his eyes still closed. She twisted her body so she was facing him, and she smiled even wider when he cracked one golden eye open.
"Then we have time to go watch the sunrise," she said in turn, laughing lightly when he seemed to scowl at the suggestion with both eyes open now.
"They are all the same," he answered in the same hushed tone.
"Oh, I don't think so," she said, the amused lilt in her voice prevalent. "You cannot tell me this sunrise is the same as the one from yesterday, or even five centuries ago."
"Stubborn, silly human sentiments."
She didn't take any offense to his comment, hearing only a perplexed amusement instead of intentional malice.
"Well, I am human," she pointed out, quirking her brow as she said it. She instantly regretted her choice of response when his eyes darkened, realizing the thought that always hung in his mind, even though they had talked about this subject time and time again. It never seemed to get easier.
"Yes," he said, his voice seeming to grow even quieter, "you are."
She moved even closer, burrowing into his embrace, and feeling his arm seeming to hold her even closer to his body. She could almost hear his heart pounding away in his chest.
"I'm sorry. I was only teasing you," she said, her voice muffled against his body, but his heightened hearing picked up every single word and even the ones hidden in between. She felt his clawed hand gently rubbing soothing circles against her back.
"Do not be sorry. I enjoy your teasing."
She scoffed softly, still silently admonishing herself for her lack of thought. "Yeah, but I do have a tendency of ruining the mood too, right?"
"Well, you are human."
She tried to laugh, but it sounded more strangled than she would have liked. She pulled back just enough to look at his face, to study his expression. There was still a dullness in his eyes that she wished to erase, but he seemed to have refocused his attention to the present here in their private little resort room in a place that most would considered paradise with its white sands, warm ocean, and perfectly untouched by modern time.
He was always so resilient, she thought to herself, admiring all of the wonderful traits that he himself did not see. Only someone as strong as him could live for so long through the most tumultuous of years and the most ruthless of enemies. He was so resilient, and he was hers, just as she was his, if only for a flicker of a moment in his long life.
She allowed herself one soft smile as she grabbed at one of his hands, guiding it down to rest on her hip. She drummed her fingers against the back of his hand, coyly inviting him to explore her body all over again.
"Have I told you lately how much I love you?"
"Not since…" his voice trailed off as his eyes traveled to the white lace bridal slip that lay on the floor, torn to shreds during the heat of the moment when he was zealous about disrobing his new blushing bride.
"Oh," she said, having followed his gaze. Her expression reddened prettily in spite of the mischievous smile on her face, "So, what, four hours ago?"
He shrugged. "More or less."
"Sunrise won't be here for another two hours," she started with a wicked glint in her eye and ignoring the fact that he had never explicitly agreed to her earlier suggestion. "We have some time to kill."
"What do you suggest?" He answered with an equally impish smirk, though his hand had already started grazing further down her thigh.
"Hm, sudoku?" She laughed off his instant frown. "Or we could do that other thing you like."
"The latter sounds splendid," he answered, already pinning her down on the bed. He brushed his lips against her neck, warming her skin with his hot breath. He breathed against her ear, sending a smile to her face, "I'll watch all of the sunrises and sunsets with you, Kagome, however long or brief our time together will be, my wife."
She felt her stomach fluttered with butterflies when he called her his wife, just as giddy as she felt when thinking of him as her husband.
What a strange, wonderful development in her life, she thought, cupping his face and kissing him soundly as the only noise to fill the room was the wave crashing on the shores just a short distance away from their room.