dear_mun | What am I going to even do with this muse?

That has not missed my attention.

(He smiles faintly.)

Sesshomaru.

Of course.

[Right, it wouldn't escape his attention. Really, Sesshomaru, it's your dad, we're talking about here. He doesn't have your attention span proble---]

I would not have expected to meet you here.

[Or anywhere, really! Can you tell he's uncomfortable? Because he's deeply, deeply uncomfortable.]

I did not expect to come here. (Or to be alive. That's...a huge change.)

I have been told to ask you how you are. (Because that's what you do with kids, right?)

I believe that to be a common reaction upon being... given attention by one of these humans.

[Having a mun is hard. It's hard and no one understands. He blinks slowly at that question, though, trying hard not to look surprised but his whole "emotionless mask of non-emotion shtick" as Kagome called it never really held well when dealing with his family.]

I am...

[In the middle of sixteen different civil wars because what are politics, politics suck, no one mentioned the politics after Naraku died, sob. Why don't you come back home with him and take over this whole Lord of the West business? He's discovered he doesn't quite like it as much as he thought he did.]

Entirely within the parameters of the acceptable, I believe.

In my case, it's much more than simply being given "attention" as you put it. (He is used to attention. But being revived without the use of his beloved Tenseiga? Now that's quite a feat.)

I'm happy to hear that. (And he is even if Sesshomaru wants to be a difficult pup.) Your hesitation makes me wonder, though.

(His expression softens the slightest bit.)

Do you speak to your mother often?

I have been busy.

[...throwing a tremendous tantrum for the first 150 years of Inuyasha's life and then being unceremoniously pinned to a tree while humans assumed he was his brother and he could hear them and he couldn't kill them and then this strange, indecent, mouthy, loud, broken miko from the future got him embroiled in a mess with Naraku and the Shikon when all Sesshomaru really wanted was to maybe kill Naraku a few times and oh god, dealing with his brother and Rin and people and why doesn't the world make any damn sense, Father, you didn't prepare him for this crap.]

But I have spoken to her, rather recently.

[...and then embarrassed himself a little by having A Moment about his adopted daughter who's a human and oh, hasn't anyone told you about that story? It's hilarious except not really and can the earth be bloody useful for once and swallow him whole? He's five hundred years old, for crying out loud, yet somehow being in his father presence makes him feel like he's four. Sesshomaru hated being four.

Bluh.]

I was able to see some of your adventures, but not all of them. (Inu No Taisho is a perceptive demon. Perhaps it's because he has been around humans so much or perhaps he was just born a little different from every other demon of his calibre (not that they're many). Regardless, he steps towards Sesshomaru and lays a taloned hand on his shoulder.)

I am proud of you, Sesshomaru. I do not believe I conveyed that well enough before my death. (Then again, Sesshomaru hadn't really been worthy of those words at that point in time. Still, you only get so long to tell your loved ones how you feel and, in some ways, Inu No Taisho missed the boat.)

[Sesshomaru twitches, which coming from Sesshomaru is the equivalent of a full body flinch and quite possibly a whimper, while we're at it, but he manages not to give into the urge to run away because that'd be uncouth. He manages a moment of aplomb, meeting his father's eyes before he invariably looks back to that super interesting point in the distance that he likes to monologue to.]

I... have endeavored to live up to the inheritance I was entrusted.

[Sort of. On a few technicalities. Can you stop freaking him out now? He was not made to be freaked out like this.]

(The twitch does not go unnoticed, though Inu No Taisho chooses to keep his hand right where it is, thank you very much.)

Have you accepted Tenseiga? (Has he used it to his benefit as well as the benefit of others?) I did not give you a weak fang.

No fang of yours could be called weak.

[He kind of gets that now. There's a relatively small pause here, as if he's trying to figure out how to word this properly and not really sure how.]

Understanding so has afforded me my own fang.

[And he's trying not to preen, but c'mon, man, his sword is friggin' awesome.]

Your own fang? (He couldn't be prouder, Sesshomaru.) You have exceeded me; you have achieved your goal of ultimate conquest.

Tell me, have you found someone you wish to protect?

I have not.

[There's nothing humble in the sharpness of that rebuttal, just something like irritation and a peevishness he can't hide from his own father. He's nowhere near the conqueror and lord Inu no Taisho was, and he knows it, but he's getting there. Kind of. Ultimate conquest is looking very much like glorified babysitting, given his vassals and his vassal's propensity to star wars at the drop of a hat. Seriously, how the hell does one preserve any measure of peace? The second question causes him to shrug elegantly, hair rustling and expression softening without his permission.]

Perhaps.

[Yeah, he found someone alright. Someone weaves flower wreaths and follows him around and is currently more than a little vexed because he's taking so long to put the West in order so he might perhaps take her there. ~~Except he probably shouldn't do that, for her own good, and you know what, having kids and doing the right thing for them is hard.]~~

You have everything you need to do so.

(He doesn't doubt Sesshomaru's power. He knows the world is different from the one he left behind. It has advanced in some ways that would make uniting the West an intriguing and harrowing task. But...)

Have you considered uniting with Inuyasha to achieve peace? (A half-demon and a demon ruling together might be exactly what the West needs.)

What are they like? (He asks because he's curious. Who has captured his eldest son's attention?)

I know.

[And it makes not having done so already all the more infuriating. But at least he knows, now, that solving everything by the sword would leave him with barren, worthless lands and no vassals in no time. But seriously. Politics, man. Whoever invented politics should roll over and die a thousand deaths. Sesshomaru doesn't react with outright scorn at the idea of running with his brother, but instead snorts. Because even if he ever fell so low that he felt he needed Inuyasha's help with politics, he'd probably sooner ask Kagome instead. The idea at what her reaction to that might be, causes his lips to twitch ever so slightly almost threatening a smirk.]

He answers to a higher power.

[A mouthy, bratty, ridiculous, defective miko from the future, to be more precise. Sesshomaru's tone conveys his amusement at that transparently, but the question about Rin causes that infuriating softness to come back, once more without permission.]

She is kind.

[A meaningful pause.]

And fleeting.

(He focuses on his son, his expression unwavering. He actually looks solemn right now because he can sense that, even though Sesshomaru is trying to do the right thing, something - or someone - is standing in his way.)

Who?

(Understanding fills his eyes and he looks away, the image of Izayoi taking over his thoughts.)

She is human. (They are far too fleeting, which is partially why he had no reservations about giving his life so that Inuyasha could enjoy time with his mother.)

There is nothing you can do to lengthen their life, Sesshomaru.

I have already done so twice, but I have also come to understand there shall not be a third time.

[And lo and behold the miracle, Sesshomaru actually smiles. Kind of. It's very small and very wry, but it's definitely there alright.]

I have also been told some of their value rests in the brevity of their lives, and that I should not worry about lengthening it, but rather wasting what time she does have.

[Kagome didn't say it so nicely. But he kind of got the idea. Sesshomaru is assaulted by the thought that his father would really like Inuyasha's miko. So in true Sesshomaru fashion, he says so:]

You would approve of your son's chosen mate.

The power of Tenseiga should never be used without respect for the life you bring back from the dead. (A faint frown furrows his brow.) Twice?

(The smile is unexpected and he returns it ever so faintly.)

That is no lie.

(Humans are like stars. Their lives burn bright and then extinguish so quickly that it is easy for nearly-immortal demons to miss the beauty humans bring into the world.)

Would I?

[Sesshomaru shrugs again. He respects the lives he's brought back. That is not a lesson he needs to revisit, but he's hesitant to explain Rin. Or rather, hesitant to figure out how to explain Rin. He wonders if he could postpone it, by talking about Kagome. She has a habit to turn conversations on their head, even when she's not present in those.]

A very... interesting miko. She and Inuyasha destroyed the Shikon no Tama for good, before settling their affairs.

[A very dutiful creature, Kagome. Responsible. Loyal. Bloody stubborn and confusing as all hell. Yes, his father would definitely approve of her as Inuyasha's mate.]

She also tried to subdue me with a holy rosary, moments after we met.

[Which is rather funny in retrospect, but didn't really make him laugh when it happened.]

(A Miko? Now that is an interesting choice. There was likely a long story behind his son falling for one of them (and vice versa).)

The Shikon no Tama? (He has never heard of it.)

Such is her duty. (A small smirk follows his answer.) Surely Inuyasha came to your aid?

He was otherwise occupied.

[But he's not gonna say wither he would have or not, if he hadn't been cursed at the time that happened. Sesshomaru shrugs, yet again.]

It was for the best he was not there, however. I was not at my most agreeable, then.

[Yeah, fifty years pinned to a tree. He wanted to murder things and oh, he did.]

I can't think of what could be more important than aiding his brother.

(Boys, really. Work it out. Daddy loves both of you.)

Rosary beads should not have affected you for long.

[Self preservation, Sesshomaru doesn't say, but he thinks it. Very loudly.]

He was cursed at the time, there was little he could do.

[He smiles grimly, the tip of A fang peeking under his lip.]

They did not.

What am I going to even do with this muse?

83 Son!

Your son, who's sliiiiiiightly less of an asshole than in canon! ...but just a little.

This is a promising change. <3 But he loves him all the same.

He... kind of almost understands him? Sort of? (We all know he loves his dad, deep down. Really.)

Inu No Taisho knows he loves him. It's okay, Sess. He can read between the bold lines. <3

Sob.

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Slightly AU? <3

juuuust a little ;p his au info is in his journal