An Office of Pink and Feathers by Skyisthelimit
An Office of Pink and Feathers
Title: An Office of Pink and Feathers
For: Priestess Skye
Prompts used: Pink, feathers
Rating: K+
Genre: Romance, Fluff
Summary: A Valentine’s Day romance in which Valentine’s Day plays absolutely no part in.
A/N: Written for Dokuga's Secret Valentine Exchange 2012. Completely angst and drama free. Seriously, there isn’t any depth to this. Just a little sweet and fluffy story for one of most favorite people in the world. I hope it doesn’t disappoint. Happy Valentine’s Day Skye!
If there was a day that Sesshomaru hated above all days, including Mondays, it was Valentine’s Day.
Pink everywhere the eye could see. The scent of chocolate noticeable in any store one could possibly enter. Red decorations glittering in windows. Ridiculous, really, for a holiday named after a massacre.
But the decorations, he could handle. They were inanimate objects, after all. No, what Sesshomaru couldn’t stand were the people. They simply became too…much.
Too emotional. Too rash. Too petty. Too selfish.
And, for the life of him, they couldn’t stay out of his business.
“For the last time,” he growled to his CFO, “No.”
“Oh come now, Sesshomaru. She’s very pretty, I assure you, and not too loud. Though I advise you to try not to make her laugh. And she’s single!” Miroku grinned.
“I do not need, nor do I want, a date for Valentine’s Day. It gives women too many expectations.”
“And rightfully so! It is a day of love, after all.”
“Precisely why I will not go on a blind date with a girl I haven’t met.”
“Then get your own date! I know you are perfectly capable of doing so.” At this, Miroku’s smirk turned sly.
Sesshomaru growled once more. “No. Why must you be so persistent?”
“Sesshomaru,” the violet-eyed man sighed, “I’m only trying to do you a favor. You’re only feeding the rumor mills, being alone on Valentine’s Day.”
The CEO gave a glare that had grown men quivering in their seats. “What rumors?”
Miroku, however, was unfazed. “Think about it. You’re young, successful, and handsome, but you’ve been single for god knows how long. What do you think the rumors are?”
Sesshomaru scoffed, muttered something indiscernible, and turned to gaze at his magnificent view of the city from his office.
Miroku grimaced at the man’s stubbornness, but brightened when Sesshomaru’s assistant strolled in.
“Ah Kagome, perfect timing. Now, you simply must convince your moody boss here that he is desperately in need for a Valentine’s date.”
Sesshomaru growled at the window. “I am never desperate.”
Miroku waved him off.
The ebony-haired woman shrugged. “Why should I? I don’t have one either.” She approached the large, imposing desk casually and laid some files down.
“What? Why ever not?” Miroku asked with surprise.
“Don’t need one, don’t want one,” she shrugged, “I don’t have any significant others at the moment and guys always take things the wrong way if I go out with them on Valentine’s Day.”
Sesshomaru would have gloated in triumph, if he hadn’t detected the slight congested quality to his assistant. He turned to carefully look at Kagome, noticing a faint flush on her cheeks and a small sway to her stance. He immediately walked over to her and placed a hand on her forehead. Just as he suspected, it was warm.
Miroku raised a brow at the contact.
“You are ill,” Sesshomaru remarked.
“I’m fine,” she dismissed, though not moving away from his hand, “Just a small cold.”
He frowned. “You should not over exert yourself.”
She snorted. “As if I could at a desk job. Don’t worry about it, really. I just won’t go into meeting rooms with you today.” She took his wrist, patted it, and moved to the files she had just placed on his desk. “Which is exactly why I brought these. They’re my research for your two meetings today. Sango will be semi-filling in for me, and she’s familiar with them, but I thought you might like your own copy to look over. Also, don’t forget you have a phone conference with the Tokyo branch at 7:30 this evening. I’ve set an alert on your phone for fifteen minutes before. Oh, and there’s an update on the Stevenson project sitting in your email.”
With that, she smiled and made to leave. “I’m just going to step out to grab some lunch for us now. Would you like anything, Miroku?”
The distinctly amused CFO shook his head. “No thank you, Kagome. I have my own lunch appointment.”
“Of course. Tell Sango I said ‘Hi’ and watch that hand of yours.”
With that she slipped through the large mahogany doors, leaving Miroku to round on Sesshomaru.
“Since when were you and Kagome so close?”
Sesshomaru ignored the question, sitting down to look at the files Kagome had just left him. As he nonchalantly skimmed the papers, though, his thoughts wandered to his growing interaction with his assistant. Sesshomaru was a very particular man, so it had been very difficult to find a competent but much-needed assistant. When Kagome had been hired, she seemed able enough, but Sesshomaru had first thought her an average, overly friendly girl. It was only recently, when he had caught her giving his half-brother the scolding of a life time for a blunder he had made in a meeting, did he begin to think more of her.
So the next time the lunched together to review some data for a meeting, he commended her for her actions. At first she had been embarrassed at being caught yelling at her vice president, but eventually she relaxed and they had a very pleasant conversation for the rest of the hour, a huge change from the usual, mainly silent meals they usually shared.
They had lunch together almost every day after that, but that was the extent of their ‘relationship.’ Kagome was pleasant company, and that was all. Did he sometimes ponder something more with her? He’d be lying if he said no, but she was a valuable assistant. He wasn’t sure he was willing to risk his employee just so that he could date her only to have a falling out with her.
Which was why he was stubbornly unresponsive to Miroku’s prodding.
Eventually, though, Miroku was forced to leave, if he was to keep his ‘appointment’ with Sango.
Blessed with some quiet at last, Sesshomaru worked diligently until Kagome returned with lunch.
“Got our usual,” she stated as they took seats by the small coffee table he kept in his office.
“You should have bought some soup for yourself,” he told her as he took a bite of his sandwich, noting that her face was a more flushed than before.
“Really, Sesshomaru, quit worrying. I never pegged you for the mothering type.” She took a large bit of her own from her sub.
“I am merely concerned that I will be without an assistant for several days if your condition becomes worse.”
“Sure.” There was something off about her voice and smile, but he wrote it off to her sickness.
“Did you finish the book I recommended?” he moved on.
“Yup. Returned it to the library just the other day, and then went straight to the book store to buy my own copy.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“It was really interesting. I’m not sure if agree with everything it was implying, but it definitely got me thinki—” Her cell phone interrupted her. She frowned and checked the screen. Mouthing an apology, which Sesshomaru waved off, she answered.
“What is it?...No, for the last time, Kouga, I won’t have dinner with you tonight…Kouga just leave things be, alright? We didn’t work, and that’s that…I’m not interested and that final, Kouga, I’m asking you to respect that…” Sesshomaru could hear the person on the other line continue to prattle, and Kagome rolled her eyes. “I’ve told you my feelings on the matter, Kouga. I’m not going to change my mind. I’m hanging up now.” She did exactly that.
Sesshomaru arched a brow at her.
She sighed. “Stupid, moronic, overly persistent man.”
“You weren’t jesting when you said you did not want a Valentine’s date.”
She shrugged, “I mean, it’s not like I’m against them as a policy. If I’m in a relationship with someone then I definitely expect a date from them on Valentine’s date. But I also definitely do not want a date with Kouga. We’ve gone on a couple and they were disasters, and not by accident. We’re just not compatible.”
“I see.”
Kagome stared at the remains of her sub with drooped shoulders. “But…I think it would be nice to have someone on Valentine’s Day.”
Sesshomaru didn’t really know what to say to that. He had never really thought of companionship as a necessity, but he knew others were different. And frankly he did not want to risk saying something that would make the girl cry, as men were often prone to doing accidently, something he learned from experience with his half sister, Rin.
After a moment, though, Kagome began swaying in her seat. Sesshomaru’s brow furrowed. “Kagome, are you alright?” when she didn’t respond, he reached over the table to place a hand on her shoulder. “Kagome?”
She jerked. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I just…I just dazed off I guess.”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes yes, I’m fine. I think…I think I’m just going to run to the ladies’ room for a sec though…”
She stood, and promptly collapsed on to the floor.
Sesshomaru leapt from his seat and gently lifted his assistant’s head. “Kagome? Kagome, can you hear me?” Her neck was alarmingly hot.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I…I just got a little woozy for a moment.” She attempted to sit up.
He placed his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from doing so. “Your fever has gotten worse. I’m taking you home, Kagome.”
She shook her feebly. “You can’t, you have meetings.”
“Inuyasha can handle them.”
Allowing no further argument, he swept her up into his arms, grabbed her purse from the floor, and entered the private elevator from his office to the basement parking garage. She tried a couple more times to protest, but eventually she gave in to her fatigue and fell asleep on his shoulder. He took her to his car and gently placed her in the passenger seat. Getting into the driver’s seat, he called his half brother to inform him of his absence and his subsequent duties that evening. Inuyasha grumbled about it a bit, but when Sesshomaru explained Kagome’s condition, he fell silent and mumbled a “fine” before hanging up. With that done, Sesshomaru pulled up Kagome’s employee files and plugged her address into his GPS.
When they reached her apartment, he carried her once more to her door. Knowing where she kept her keys, since she also had one to his office, he fished out her key ring from her purse. He had to try a couple keys before he got the right one, but eventually he managed to get in and place her on her bed.
Quietly closing the bedroom door, he went back out to close and lock the front door before heading toward the kitchen to make her some soup.
He wasn’t quite sure why he was doing all this. Maybe he was thinking of the time when Rin got sick. All he knew was that he frankly didn’t feel like leaving her to go back to work.
An hour or so later, Kagome woke up in her bed to the smell of steaming hot Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.
She smiled. “What, no gourmet, home-cooked soup?”
He shrugged and moved the tray to her lap after she sat up. “I confess my cooking skills aren’t very astounding.”
She laughed. “Thanks all the same. At least you knew to add water.”
He didn’t mention making that very mistake months ago with his half sister.
He watched her eat in comfortable silence for a few moments before remarking, “Your room is pink.”
She paused, spoon half way to her mouth, and flushed. “What’s wrong with that?”
He shrugged. “It’s…unexpected.”
She pouted. “I like pink.”
“It’s a sorry excuse for red.”
“No it’s not. Red and pink mean two completely different things.”
“Colors mean something?”
“Of course. Red is bold, extreme. It could mean seduction, or violence, or anger. Pink is soft, gentle, subtler. Pink means pleasantness, or shyness, or love.”
“It is red and white mixed together.”
She rolled her eyes. “Mr. Literal.”
“Factual.”
“Same thing.” She eyed him speculatively, before grinning, “I bet pink would be a great color on you, with your light hair and gold eyes. I have some dresses I haven’t tried yet that you might be able to squeeze into…”
Sesshomaru leaned back. “Woman…”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. What could I do, anyway? I’m sick.” She arranged her expression as innocently as possible.
He looked at her skeptically.
“I’m done with the soup. Could you put it on the night stand?”
He did so, and when he turned back to her, he was met with a face full of pillow.
Kagome’s laughter filtered through the air before being muffled by a pillow herself.
She looked at his triumphant smirk with surprise, not expecting her stoic, proper boss to retaliate.
After a few moments, though, her grin returned and she reached for another pillow from the multitude on her bed.
“Oh it’s on.”
Squealing, she lunged at him, pillow firm in her hands, but he had one of his own ready to push her back down onto the bed. She swatted at him, and he retaliated, eventually climbing onto the bed himself to evade some of her attacks. Pretty soon, they whacked at each other hard enough to break some of the seams of the pillows, causing fluffs of white to flutter around them. Eventually, she exhausted herself until she cried surrender, and when they finally stopped their assaults, he’d somehow ended up on top of her, his warm body pressed up against hers.
Breathless, they gazed unflinchingly into each other’s eyes.
“Do you believe in romances?”
“Perhaps.”
“How about Valentine’s magic?”
“Preposterous. And I hate Valentine’s Day.”
“Then let’s just call this normal magic,” she whispered before straining up to press her lips against his.
Their kiss was soft, slow, and languid, as if they had all the time in the world. He shifted his weight to one arm so that he could cup her cheek, and her arms wrapped around his neck to play with his hair. They explored each other gently, pulling away for air just for a moment before connecting again. Eventually, she rolled on top of him as his hands slid down to her waist. It was a long time before they pulled apart, at which point she tucked her head under his chin.
They were silent for a long moment, comfortable and unwilling to break the atmosphere, enjoying just the feel of the other’s presence.
Sometime later, though, Kagome spoke, “I’m sorry, I probably got you sick.”
Sesshomaru found he didn’t care the slightest, and instead tilted her face upward for another kiss.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Two Years Later…
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
If there was a day that Sesshomaru hated above all days, including Mondays, it was Valentine’s Day.
Pink everywhere the eye could see. The scent of chocolate noticeable in any store one could possibly enter. Red decorations glittering in windows. Ridiculous, really, for a holiday named after a massacre.
But the decorations, he could handle. They were inanimate objects, after all. No, what Sesshomaru couldn’t stand were the people. They simply became too…much.
Too emotional. Too rash. Too petty. Too selfish.
And, for the life of him, they couldn’t leave him the damn alone.
“Sesshomaru!” Miroku yelled as he burst through his boss’s doors. “Is this your idea of a joke?”
He waved a small, sturdy rectangle of paper in his hand around.
Sesshomaru didn’t look up from his paperwork. “You’re welcome to turn the invitation down.”
“Then I am reading this right? You’re getting married? How does Kagome feel about this?”
He ignored him.
“Really, Sesshomaru, you can’t walk around thinking you own the world. This isn’t just your decision!”
He continued to ignore him.
“I can’t believe you’re arrogant enough to assume…did you even discuss this with Kagome? You’re my friend, Sesshomaru, but I also care about Kagome. I can’t believe you would do this to her.”
“I am fairly certain she sees the match just as favorably as I do.”
“And how would you know? H—”
He was interrupted as the woman in question strolled in, much as she had two years ago. “Really, Miroku, quit making a racket.”
“Kagome, do you know what this man did?” He shoved the card into her face.
She didn’t even look at it. “He sent our wedding invitations. So?”
“What do you mean, ‘so’? You’re telling me you actually agreed to marry this man? You’re not even dating!”
Kagome and her fiancé exchanged amused glances. “Well, actually, we’ve been dating for two years, Miroku.”
The CFO’s jaw dropped.
“What?”
“We’ve been dating for two years. To the day, actually.”
Miroku’s mouth worked as he attempted to say something, but no sound came out.
“As I said,” Sesshomaru put in, “You’re welcome to decline the invitation. Really.”
She gently swatted Sesshomaru on the chest. “Don’t be mean.”
“It wasn’t my idea to invite him.”
Kagome rolled her eyes, before turning to the still stunned Miroku. “We’d love for you to come.”
“Did…Did anyone know about this?”
She shrugged. “We didn’t go announcing it or anything. And when no one noticed at first, we thought it was funny enough to keep up.” Sesshomaru smirked.
“Wait…two years ago…you mean when you got ‘sick’ Kagome? And then Sesshomaru took a couple days off because he got ‘sick’ too?” He made air quotes around the key word.
Sesshomaru scoffed. “The woman actually got me sick, Miroku.”
“Hey you didn’t stop me.”
As they bantered, Miroku took the opportunity to watch them carefully. All those years ago, he had suspected, but he hadn’t actually thought…
Well, he always did say they’d make an excellent couple.
Deciding to break the mini-argument up, he interjected, “Well then, I guess there’s nothing to say but congratulations. Sango and I will definitely be there, you can count on it.”
“Shame.”
Kagome elbowed her boss. “Thanks so much, Miroku.”
Calmed down and back to his usual self, he grinned. “I guess you won’t be showing up to that blind date I set up for you, Sesshomaru?”
He glared.
“Thought so. Happy Valentine’s Day, you two.”
Sesshomaru glowered, and Kagome quickly explained. “We don’t celebrate.”
“You…don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day?” Miroku asked utterly perplexed.
“Nope. Silly holiday named after a massacre. We celebrate…Feather Day instead,” she grinned mischievously as Sesshomaru started to smirk himself. Their eyes met, and a second later, he swung her into his arms, moving to leave the room.
“Where are you two going?” Miroku asked, amused and surprised simultaneously.
Without pausing, Sesshomaru answered, “To make more feathers.”