"Have you asked the elder?"

Comfortably seating around the small fire pit of the kitchen, Nazoki stared at her mother. Sesshomaru had wandered off after deciding that she wasn't hurt, leaving the vixen to privately catch up with her mom, yet the conversation remained on her brother. On what to do. The boy had been deathly pale, covered in sweat and the image of a sickly human. It was an unusual concept. Nazoki had no idea of what to make of such a situation. It wasn't like a demon to become so unnaturally ill; she had never seen anything like it before.

Her question hung in the air, only received a sharp glance from her mother as she warmed a kettle of water for tea. As if they needed human pleasantries. Apparently, a life beside a human caused one to develop strange customs, but Nazoki wasn't about to point that out.

"So, I found the perfect place to bury Goro today! If you had been here by sunrise, you could have seen it! Up on the mountain, surrounded by flowers... Some humans were around, and thought I was his daughter- dug the grave and everything-" The carefree laugh that followed her mother's statement unsettled Nazoki. No matter how she approached the subject, the woman found something unrelated to joke about. Something relatively fun; deceit or flirtation. And Nazoki was forced to suffer through listening to the woman laugh about it.

Crossing her arms, the vixen shifted her gaze. She was unable to hide the frown, which prominently twisted her features. How many times had her mother done this already? She didn't know, but she wanted the woman to focus. To stop playing around, and give her a straight answer.

"Mother, can you be serious?" Irritated, Nazoki huffed after she spoke and the room fell silent. Charged with exactly what she had asked for and tense beyond belief. When Nazoki finally glanced at the woman in question again, she found her to be staring straight at her. Glaring, rather. The image of grass on the ground wavered; flicking between dirt and a lush lawn.

"You want me to be serious?"

It didn't sound like a question. Almost immediately, Nazoki regretted the snide tone she had taken. It was never a good idea to be so lax, and she knew it. Nevertheless, she couldn't go back and rephrase what she had said or alter her tone.

"Baby girl, you've no right to come back and act like you're better than us. Just because you're serious, or you've got some dog to hang off of- don't forget where you came from or what you've done. You ran off; abandoned us because you didn't like your mate."

Pursing her lips, Nazoki lowered her gaze. The obvious retreat was ignored; didn't spare her of her mother's disapproval. The older vixen continued to glare at her, the corner of her nose wrinkled in the imitation of a growl. A warning, which was heeded by Nazoki as she fiddled with her fingers. She wanted to say that Hideki wasn't her mate. That she hadn't meant to come off in such a way; as if she thought that she was better. Really, she didn't.

But her mother was pregnant again... That wasn't exactly respectable, considering that it would make all of her children only related through her; leaving three different men to father them all. It was unheard of. And for her to act as though Nazoki was the only reason that there were issues- the town had only started acting so coldly when she took that human in.

It was a defining point, after the immediate frost of losing her father.

But Nazoki wasn't going to say anything like that. Not unless she suddenly felt the urge to be killed by a hormonal vixen. Not exactly the first thing on her to-do list.

"You ran off and physically injured your chosen mate, lost your sleeve while you were out and returned with a mark; do you understand-"
"I- I know..." At some point, Nazoki's voice had grown small. Maybe it was the expression that her mother held, or the clear hostility. It hadn't seemed to be there before, but Nazoki was quickly learning a good lesson.

She never wanted her mother to be serious again.

Nope. Never. When the woman listed off her actions, she felt tiny. Like being nagged by her mother made her a child again, and she had no choice but to sit there, nod and accept it with her ears submissively folded back. Behind her, she could feel her tail twitching under the severity of her mother's eyes.

"Nobody cares about what happens to him. The elder refused help until you make amends for running out on his grandson." Finally, the brunette's eyes left Nazoki. Her hands encircled her large stomach as she murmured under her breath. "This baby is our chance back into the village. Into acceptance." There was a slight pause as the woman met Nazoki's eyes; still visibly angered. "You want me to be serious? You couldn't handle serious, Naki. You know as well as I do that your love and free will means nothing when your mate can be arranged inside the clan. There's no way to help Toru, nobody knows what's wrong with him and he's not healing. His life wouldn't have been easy anyway... So what are you going to do?"

Averting her eyes, Nazoki bit down on her lower lip. Next time, she would bite her tongue. "The lord has a half brother, he might know a way to help."

Without missing a beat, her mother questioned the statement.
"A human brother?"
Nodding, Nazoki focused on her hands in her lap. She had been fiddling with her hands so long that her nails had left a few stray nicks and cuts in their wake. She forced herself to be still, once more attempting to change the subject.
"And his family was not looked down upon."

"Are you not ashamed?"

Frowning, Nazoki raised her eyes to her mother's. They were focused on the doorway behind her, and a low voice caused the vixen to straighten her back.

"This one has no reason to be ashamed." Silent steps ended at Nazoki's side as the lord gracefully seated himself. Out of the corner of her eyes, Nazoki glanced his way, yet didn't dare to outwardly look at him. How much of that had he heard? She hadn't even smelled him approaching. Furthermore, he had walked in on Nazoki dragging him into the situation with the proposition of knowledge. No matter how she cut it, he seemed to be the most likely source of aid though. He was intelligent, enough so for Nazoki to regard asking him as the best course of action.

When a hand tightly gripped her swaying tail and pinned it to the floor, she turned to meet the lord's eyes. He was staring back at her, his brow raised. Possibly questioning her nervousness.

But she wouldn't bother him with her thoughts.

It was clear that she would have to return to the village and speak with the elder. Accept some sort of atonement task to gain the aid of the other kitsune. She would try natural medicine while she could; maybe there was some special herb that humans used to keep their strength up, unbeknown to the demon community.

But Rin ever used anything like that. Well, nothing that Nazoki could think of. Or what if he just needed to eat? Was that what happened when humans didn't eat? She knew they would die, but she wasn't sure how, exactly, or what the symptoms were. Rin's stomach would make gurgling noises, but aside from that, Nazoki wasn't sure. She hadn't heard anything like that in her brother's room.

As if sensing the vixen's unease, Sesshomaru abruptly stood up. He gently tugged at the fabric over Nazoki's back before he did so, and she followed suit, crossing her arms. Her mother was still watching, silently studying the exchanged glance between the two before Nazoki spoke.

"Er... We're going to rest..."

A single nod was the only answer Nazoki received before bowing to excuse herself.

Once they had retreated to her old room, Nazoki sealed off the door to the rest of the den with a sturdy illusion as Sesshomaru seated himself on a small cot on the floor. It was soft to the touch, and unusually comfortable, as if it was only layers upon layers of fabric, covering a cushion of some sort. He hadn't spent much time indoors in centuries, and it was an odd concept, a soft bed. Everything that he had seen was flat; on the ground. Across the room, Nazoki was busy unwrapping herself to the lowermost layer of her garb and placing her clothes on a shelf.

When she turned around, the lord was lifting the edge of her pallet to discover what was layered underneath. It was just hay; thinly sliced and coated in a few layers of blankets. She'd had nothing better to do when she was younger. Comfortably dressed in her grey under-gown, Nazoki knelt before the man. He had found the contents of her bed and was frowning as if he had never considered such a thing.

Maybe it was all those years of sleeping in trees and grassy fields.

Nevertheless, the vixen wanted some sort of attention. A talk, a game, anything to take her mind off the fact that she had returned. She moved behind the man and leaned against the wall, idly taking a lock of his hair into her hands. The lord lowered the edge of her pallet as he turned to peer at her over his shoulder. No words were exchanged before he leaned back. He settled on his elbow, crossing his forearm under the bend of her knee as she loosened the braid she had formed in favor of a more intimate approach.

Sesshomaru remained still as Nazoki swept every silver lock of hair from his shoulder and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. When she sighed he noted her anxious demeanor and opted to approach the subject himself.

"Will you ask?" Studying the wooden shelf across the room, Sesshomaru awaited the vixen's response. Multiple items were scattered across the shelves, most being stones. An occasional wooden carving was mixed into the collection, and the lord pondered if Nazoki had made them or received them as a gift.

"Will it do any good?"
"Hn." The vixen wasn't sure if that was a yes or no. She leaned over Sesshomaru's shoulder, studying his blank expression for a hint, yet none was to be found. Instead of acknowledging her, he scanned his eyes over the room again. Grass covered the floor like the rest of the house, but an amaryllis was blooming in the corner beside the shelf. An obvious illusion and reminder of the vixen's favorite flower.

"Then... Do you know what could be wrong with Toru?" The moment Nazoki asked, Sesshomaru was speaking. Breaking the barrier of his usual third person speech to offer no help at all.
"I haven't a clue."

He felt Nazoki lean up, no doubt frowning at him as she released him.
"Then why did you mention it?"

Ever so slowly, the lord pried his eyes from whatever he had been studying to catch a glimpse of her reaction.
"You wanted to ask." The raised brow that met him was amusing enough, and he turned away as the vixen shook her head. The arms that had once held him found the edges of his belt and unraveled the fabric as she leaned back into him. The lord barely paid her any mind until she snickered in his ear.

"Your armour hurts..."
Instead of an immediate relief of the sensation, Nazoki felt the spikes press farther into her thigh as the lord wiggled his shoulder; intentionally toying with her. When she batted his side and giggled, he recreated his left arm. Reaching behind himself, the man worked his hand into Nazoki's curls. She was barely pulled forward, enough to bring her ear to his lips when he raised his chin.

"You wish me to remove it?" The murmur sent a shiver down her spine, pausing the woman as she stared ahead. They couldn't do something like that where they were. He was definitely toying with her. Even so, she could barely suppress the urge to combust. The hand in her hair disappeared, and the lord's sleeve fell, signaling that he'd dropped the illusion as he leaned up.

Once the man was seated upright, Nazoki took hold of the spined ridge of his armour, positive that she had figured it out. She pushed downward, careful to avoid the spikes, and sure enough, a loud snap showed her that she had managed to learn something about his clothes. It was the oddest contraction she had seen, yet the moment it popped, the material went slack. Sesshomaru eyed her over his shoulder as she slipped the solid strap from the sturdy material encompassing his form and set it aside. Another low snap sounded, and the last piece of armour was pulled away by the lord himself.

Nazoki took the armour from his hand, spined ridge included, and set it at her bedside, careful not to damage it, despite the fact that it was made to be abused. She eased back in place, yet a wooden blur flew past the line she had been moving. Taken aback, Nazoki watched as the surface of the item smacked against the lord's open palm. He raised the object to study it, as if he hadn't almost killed her with a statuette. His false arm was re-situated to assist in turning the wooden carving over; examining each carefully carved line. It was definitely real, a solid work. The recreation of an unknown face. Each line was intricately traced, leaving no detail unlaid in the polished figure in the lord's hands.

Silence filled the air as Nazoki turned to her shelf, peering at the familiar woodwork.

"What is this?"

The lord's question was met with a pause, in which Nazoki slipped back to his side. She gently pulled the carving away and shrugged.

"A game. There was nothing better to do..." The vixen proceeded to turn the figure over in her hands, examining it as Sesshomaru had. Golden eyes observed every flick of her gaze and reminiscent shift of the carving. He assumed she was implying that she had carved it out of boredom. She seemed to linger on the subject, as if there was more to say, yet his interest had been satisfied. Wrapping his palm over the back of her hand, Sesshomaru moved Nazoki's hand to the ground. His gaze was met as she released the object and folded her hands together.

A low murmur filled the air as the vixen dropped her gaze.
"This is awkward. I should not have come back... My mother- and how long will you stay? What if Toru gets worse?"

Ignoring the questions, Sesshomaru fixed his eyes on a pile of what appeared to be rocks in the corner. He didn't know why they were there, or what good they could be. Kitsune were strange. The stones hadn't even been rinsed, specks of dried mud still covered them, as well as leaves and twigs. That didn't seem useful at all.

"Awkward?"

The echo received a small nod.

Nazoki seemed tense. More so than usual. When he had met her, she hadn't been so clearly unhinged. She had been nervous, jittery, but not uncomfortable. Well, unless he got too close to her. Then she was ball of nerves and fire. But that was besides the point. It wasn't like anything horrible would happen. He had come to ensure that. Her fears would be unjustified, if not for her brother's condition. And her mother's unusual personality.

A sudden voice in her ear caused the vixen to immediately tense. She glanced to the side as the lord murmured to her, all too natural for his own good.
"You are three hundred and twenty eight." The moment he reached the last digit of her age, Nazoki combusted. She jumped to her feet, gawking at the invisible smirk that surfaced as he started to pat the area she had previously sat. Her tail had ignited the cloth of the bed, which the lord was calmly extinguishing with his hand.

Internally snickering, Sesshomaru remained deadpan. That would distract her. As far as he was concerned, she was fully focused on his forbidden knowledge. That was better than her family circumstances.

'I do not understand.' The statement within him enticed a hum from the lord, which Nazoki glared at. He appeared to be laughing at her.
'There was nothing to decipher.' His response was not accepted. Instead, his beast persisted, lacking the ability to comprehend why he had teased Nazoki. It was interpreted as hostile, or meaninglessly rude.
'She did not like that.'
'Silence. She loved it.' Calmly murmuring back to his beast, Sesshomaru felt it retreat; muttering all the while.

"M'lord-"

"Sesshomaru," Correcting the vixen, he leaned back onto her bed; still holding his invisible grin.

"Sesshomaru, how do you-"

"Hn." Amusement danced through the golden pools of his eyes, betraying his cool expression as Nazoki's brow furrowed. He motioned for Nazoki to seat herself and she obliged, eying him all the while. As the vixen sat, she was pulled between the lord's legs. A hand slid under her forearm, and she turned to glare at the man as his fingertips met hers.

"Nazoki, who has your brother been drinking?"

As quickly as he had flustered the vixen, he had puzzled her. Ears easing in opposite directions, Nazoki lowered her defensive posture to think. Her silence resulted in a slight shrug, which the lord nodded to.

"When you drain a human, what is it like?"

It was an unusual amount of conversation for the lord. Rarely did he speak unless he was angered and felt the need to insult whomever dared to spark his ire. Or to remind everybody that he was better than them. In a lax setting such as this, he seemed to be more open to grace the vixen with low murmurs and contact.

"It's... not enough? Humans are weak and taste odd. Jaken would likely be more satisfying than a Human man." The raised eyebrow that Nazoki found herself on the receiving end of was enough to convince her to rethink her response. She looked away, covering her mouth with a single hand as she did. "Not that I've thought of draining Jaken..." Quickly adding the correction to her previous statement, Nazoki awaited any sort of continuance of their conversation.

Instead, she received a hum of acknowledgment. The lord prompted her to lean back once more, and she allowed him to guide her into laying against him. One by one, each will-o-wisp that she had created died, and the lord's fingertips met hers. A spark jumped from his hand, just enough to tickle her palm. Snickering to herself, Nazoki flattened her palm against the lord's. He was far too mischievous when he wanted to be. Another jolt sent the vixen into a fit of giggles, and she leaned into Sesshomaru's mokomoko, to peer up at him.

"And if you were half-human?"

The stray murmur paused the vixen. She remained still as she gazed up at the man behind her, and his hand left hers. Stars started to take the dark ceiling, with a replication of a night sky, and a false breeze filled the room, signifying Sesshomaru's preference of an open field, as opposed to her small den.

"If I was human..?"
"Would Youkai be enough?" Sesshomaru's voice remained low, barely audible in her ear, but sudden realization shot through the vixen as the universe over them turned. The lord seemed more interested in the creation of his distant galaxy; calm as if he hadn't spoken a single word. Even as Nazoki leaned up and turned to face him, his eyes remained on the carefully constructed illusion.

"M'lord-"

"Sesshomaru," Again, he corrected the vixen, yet she disregarded the aloof murmur. Nothing further was added, yet everything the lord had offered was more than enough. Never in a million years, would Nazoki have guessed such an obvious possibility. While she wasn't sure, it seemed to be the closest thing to a solution that she would get.

"Sesshomaru, that... That makes sense."

A single nod was offered, and Sesshomaru met the vixen's gaze. Of course it made sense. He wouldn't have said it if it didn't. Still, Nazoki seemed surprised. She placed her palms together, perking up with a large grin.

"Only you could be so clever." The affectionate tone earned a relatively expressionless stare, which directly contrasted the vixen's warmth.

Of course he was clever. He was Sesshomaru.

A/N: Hi all!
Okay, first thing's first, I want to apologize for taking so long to update! I won't make excuses or bore you with details about what's been happening, but I do want to say that I hope to start writing as often as I used to. I haven't given up on this story or any of my others, and I know what's going to happen in them. It's just a matter of getting around to writing. Thank you for being so patient with me, and I hope you enjoyed the update. It's a slow chapter, but necessary to get back into the story.

Take care, and I hope all is well :)