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The wind rustled the reed mat at the door, letting in the scent of the damp grass outside. Kagome glanced up from where she sat with a full basket of herbs she had been diligently sorting. Her nose crinkled lightly with a smile at the sight of her husband, silently watching her. “Welcome back.”
“I’m home,” he confirmed. He brushed at his suikan and hakama roughly, shedding any water droplets that had clung to him as he made his way home. “You eat?”
“Not yet. I was waiting for you.” He grumbled a bit, but she could tell by the way his ears twitched that part of him was pleased that she had. He didn’t want her hungry, of course, but he liked that she wanted to be with him. His nose twitching also told her he was very aware that she already had their evening meal keeping warm by the fire.
Kagome leaned into his shoulder for a moment as he sat beside her, pulling the weeds from between the leaves of the herbs she needed to keep. Her inuhanyou was still a bit shy about open physical signs of affection like kissing when it was light out. Fortunately, Kagome found that charming most of the time. And he was affectionate in so many other ways that most humans didn’t notice when they were in public, she couldn’t begrudge him the shyness in private.
A faint grumble caught her attention, pulling her eyes away from her task long enough to find Inuyasha staring at her hands. He had a little bit of a frown pulling his dark brows together, his lips pressed together in a pout. She knew saying something might make him more nervous about whatever it was he was winding himself up for, so she waited.
A few minutes of staring and his face had definitely reddened. He shifted his weight a little on his backside – legs changing positions restlessly – and he was staring ever more intently, as if willing her to do something. Kagome wasn’t sure what, exactly, but it did seem that his focus was on the fact that her hands were occupied. Somewhat clumsily, he nudged her arm. “Inuyasha?” His only audible response was a grunt.
There was an edge to him, a sharpness. Not directed at her, exactly, just something about him that needed smoothing out.
Gentle, but firm, his hands finally took the bundle of herbs from her grip and set them aside. Now empty handed, Kagome blinked in surprise as he slowly lowered himself until his head lay in her lap. His eyes remained averted, his cheeks still flushed, and Kagome could tell that he needed this far more than he needed to look tough. Even with as open as he was with her compared with others, he still had his pride. Sometimes.
Right now was not one of those times.
It took her a moment, and a few furtive glances from her hanyou, before Kagome understood what it was he was after. Her face softened and she let her hands lightly run over his hair, carding the long strands between her fingers. Inuyasha relaxed by degrees against her, his golden eyes fluttering shut and a slow sigh escaping him.
“Did something happen?” she asked eventually, fingertips now carefully tracing his ear. If he didn’t want the touch, he would let them flick away, but they were firmly twisted toward her with no sign of discomfort. “You seemed… tense.”
“Keh.” Lacking its usual acidity, she sensed his scoff was more to give him time to get his thoughts in order than to actually reject her. “Just the village women. Don’t worry about it.” Well how was she supposed to not worry about it when he obviously was? Still, she didn’t press, didn’t ask, waiting for him to tell her more if he felt ready to. “A trader came through and was shocked to see me, I guess.” He tensed, growling, then went limp again. “They stood up for me.”
Kagome failed to see how that was a bad thing… But she also knew Inuyasha still struggled with the fact that he was a welcome part of this village. “You are very well liked here, Inuyasha,” she murmured simply, trying to remain neutral.
“Only because of you.”
The miko let out a controlled breath, stroking his ears again. “They got the chance to know you better because of me, sure, but they like you because of who you are, Inuyasha.” He made a little face, as if he’d smelled something funny, but didn’t argue.
Instead his cheeks reddened again and he buried his face into the fold of her robes, nose pressed to her stomach. Kagome smiled fondly, knowing he couldn’t see her, before leaning down to press a kiss to his ear. “Tickles,” he grumbled against her. Kagome giggled, then did it again until he had to roll away from her to protect his ears from her onslaught.
He tugged her with him to sprawl over his chest, her chin resting on his sternum. She felt the slight hesitation in him before he dipped his head just enough to kiss her nose. He couldn’t quite reach her mouth so Kagome gladly met him halfway on another attempt, stretching until their lips brushed. “Hm.” Her pleased hum had his lips curling ever so slightly in a grin.
It was a while yet before they actually ate their meal, finding far more enjoyment in one another’s company.
Kagome couldn’t help giggling as Inuyasha fed them both from the same bowl, keeping her firmly seated in his lap this time. Physical touch was never something he was shy about when it meant taking care of or protecting her, especially now that they were married. She had to laugh at herself though, for missing how many of the things he did now were no different than when they were traveling on their mission years ago.
He was still learning to ask for that kind of affection himself, but he was learning. Today was proof enough of that. Eventually, he would be able to let her know he needed it without all the hemming and hawing, the shyness and false starts… But for someone who had experienced so much loss, hate, pain, and rejection at his attempts to reach out over the years, Kagome knew that she was Inuyasha’s safe haven. He knew that she would never reject him. She might not understand sometimes, but if he worked up the courage to communicate what he needed to her – verbally or otherwise – then she would do her best to do that for him.
“Take another bite,” he grumbled, pulling her out of her distraction.
“You need to eat it too,” she reminded him, covering her overly full mouth. Inuyasha made a point to refill the bowl with the remaining rice and fish from the pots, then curled himself around her once more so he could try to sneak a few more bites into her as if she wasn’t aware of what he was doing. His instincts had only strengthened when it came to caring, protecting, and providing for her since they reunited and, while it was sweet, it was a little much sometimes.
“I promise I wasn’t starving just because I waited a little longer for you.”
“Alright, alright.” He acted grumpy about it, but she knew he was just pleased to know she was plenty full, safe, and that he was meeting all – and she did mean all – of her needs.
With his hands still holding the bowl, he couldn’t really stop her from shimmying down until she was resting her head on his thigh. Golden eyes blinked down at her in surprise, his mouth too full of rice to speak. “Comfy.” Inuyasha paused, swallowed, chewed a little more, then swallowed again.
It was a good thing he was nearly finished with his meal, because Kagome wasn’t sure of a time she’d seen him eat so quickly. He muttered a promise to take care of the dishes “later” before changing the focus of his appetite. Kagome could only smile and gasp as her hanyou showed her exactly how much he cared about her without the words he didn’t know how to say.
Someday Inuyasha would know them, would say them, but for now she was more than content with his non-verbal overtures of trust and love.