What's in a Word by thetroll

Chapter 1

Sesshomaru stares at his rambunctious sons, absolutely, positively certain he has misheard the pair. "I am not certain I heard you. You wish to do what?" 

"Eat!" Hiroki says as Hiroshi, the quieter of the twins, bobs his head.

"And what is it," Sesshomaru rumbles patiently, "that you wish to eat?" Sometimes, he's learned since the boys were born, speaking to toddlers is as harrowing as any mortal enemy in battle. He is never entirely certain what they will say or do.

They certainly 'keep him on his toes,' as his mate is wont to say.

"Dick!" Hiroki shouts, giving his father a pointed look. "Wanna eat dick!"

Sesshomaru is abruptly glad he has not taken a bite of the dango nor sipped the tea his mate has brought him. If he had, he's certain he'd have choked. "So I did not hear you incorrectly," he muses, wishing he absolutely had. "I do not understand, Hiro—"

"Dick!" Hiroki waves his hands towards his father, but Sesshomaru remains baffled. 

"And what," he manages, attempting to keep his voice level, "is 'dick' to you, pup?" When Hiroki lets out a huff, Sesshomaru adds baldly, "'Dick' does not mean what you think it does."

Hiroki lets out another huff as Hiroshi decides to step in. "Dick," he says, pointing to the dango. 

Sesshomaru makes an odd noise that's half snort, half cough. "The dango?" he says neutrally as soon as he can manage it.

Both twins nod fervently. "Eat dick," Hiroki says, using the grabby hands that were far cuter when he was one than they are now that he is nearly three.

Belatedly, he realizes the twins are saying 'dis' instead of 'this,' but the way they're saying it sounds nearly identical to 'dick.' "If you wish to eat dango," he says then, taking a deep breath, "you must ask your mother."

He may love the twins beyond all understanding, but not enough to share the special treat his mate has prepared especially for him.

"Dick," Hiroki says with a forlorn look at Sesshomaru's own food. "Wanna eat."

He hears a choking noise from the doorway and spies his mate there, attempting to do all she can not to laugh. "They wish to have dango of their own," he says, valiantly not giving into the urge to laugh.

"R-right." Kagome takes in a breath, but the smile remains firmly in place. "Come here, boys. I'll make you some dango and tea."

The boys cheer as they rush after their mother, and it is only when they are finally out of the room that Sesshomaru gives into the urge and lets out a loud rumble, chuckling over his pups' mistake.

Dick indeed.