A lustrous ponytail, fading like black fire of dark red to yellow tips uncurls from his wrap-tie, gray shirt and brushes his calves as he walks.
Would the hair on his head look like that if he didn't cut it? …it's like a glossy, twisty, sunbeam…
Bewitched by uniquely vibrant keratin, "Why do I want to touch it so bad?..."
Coughing at the delirious words leaving her mouth in a dry whisper, Sanemaru spins and grabs her shoulder.
He didn't hear me…I hope…
Swallowing air with no relief, he reads her face until her coughing settles down and she shakes her head with a groan, caressing her throat.
"Here," reaching a hand inside his top, she watches him apprehensively, "You must be thirsty."
Delirious that he understands, she patiently awaits Sanemaru pulling a bamboo shoot from his robes before handing it to the girl. Jiggling it in her right hand, she shimmies in place at the sound of splashing inside.
Eyeing the lid to open it, she finds an oddly textured material.
Ewwwww! This looks gross...but I've never been so thirsty in my -entire- life.
Shrugging, she unravels a red cord stitched around the leatherish flap with a yuck face before shamelessly sucking remarkably cold water into her mouth. Closing her eyes, the refreshing nourishment enlivens withered cells.
"Wow, you didn't even ask what it was," Sanemaru cups his chin, eyeing her with a raised eyebrow, "Just 'bottoms up'."
The girl's eyes fling open and she holds the fluid in her cheeks, refusing to swallow another drop until she can figure out the flavor before swallowing another drop.
WHAT IS IT?!
"Don't worry," he waves harmlessly, "It's just water," he paces in a circle.
Chugging it down with Sanemaru in her peripherals, her organs cheer with every swig of liquid life.
"I'm surprised you didn't bat an eyelash at touching human skin," he laughs hysterically.
Swollen pecs jump under the teasing opening in his top when broad hands clutch belted hips and the container slips from her hands; hunching, she grabs her knees to dry heave until she can force greedy tissues to relinquish its only nourishment.
"Geez," he picks up the emptying bamboo shoot, laughing and wiping a tear from the corner of his eye with his free hand.
"No need to be wasteful," smoothing out the spill across the mat with his bare foot, "I'm kidding! It's ogre skin," he roughly tousles the hair on the top of her head with the energy of petting a puppy.
"...much tougher than your wimpy kind," pointing obnoxiously in her face with both hands while she recovers from his heavy-handed endearment, he chuckles, "You should've seen the look on your face!"
Presenting her the cylinder in case she wants more, the girl crosses her arms with a glare then turns her nose away.
I can tell I'm going to enjoy it here. What kind of maniac would find that funny?! ...At least it was water… I've been tricked with worse.
Sticking her tongue out in disgust, she regains her composure while eyeing him. Returning the worn container between overlapping layers of his gray top, she catches a better view of shredded obliques.
…this guy…I gotta ask about something that keeps me from thinking about what the rest of him looks like. How can someone make me feel like this so quick?! ...I just had Nobu in me and now he's…
Harshly clearing her throat to sever her own depressing thoughts, detaining tears, her eyebrows arch with a regretful interest upon the only question that comes to mind.
"Where'd you get ogre skin?"
Asked no human ever… My adult life is going to be just like when I was a kid: being bullied and pretending I know what's going on to fit in.
At the sound of his laid-back, husky voice, she shyly gazes upon him when amber light hits the cyclone clouds of his eyes like the sun breaking through a chaotic storm, "Every once in a while, a random pack of something that doesn't -know- who Lord Tsukiyomi is attacks him."
Sanemaru scratches his left, twitching ear, her intense gaze unnoticed, "He brings their corpses back to make tools and stuff," slowing down for his left shoulder to meet her right, he matches her pace so they can walk side by side.
Wait, yokai use parts of their kill to make stuff, too? …we do that…
Blurting out her thoughts in a mousy, hoarse voice, "What -are- you and Lord Tsukiyomi?"
Now I get why I got asked that so much by travelers… I hope it's 'cause they thought I was beautiful and different like this. Not ugly the way those meanies made me feel. Sniffling, They still didn't deserve to die…
Accepting that she prefers rejection and discomfort over the silence that bleeds into oppressing memories, she wonders how much time will be spent with this unusually attractive man.
"That's actually a funny story! He's got dragon claws and all that, but he's really a--hm," mumbling then shutting up, Sanemaru's forehead wrinkles. Quickly recovering, "My true form is a large and powerful steed," he beats his chest with a closed fist and prideful grin while standing tall.
The thick, silky tail whips air before hanging limp between his legs, momentarily distracting her.
Wait... Am I THAT worn or did he skip my question?
She tilts her head, narrowing her eyes and nodding with her mouth slightly agape, I gotta stop thinking so hard so fast when people are talking…
Clearing her throat and looking at his butt, "Is that your tail?"
"Of course it's mine, you little, zashiki bokko (zash-iki bok-ko)," wiggling his tail with his butt sticking out, "Who else would it belong to if it's sticking outta me?"
Jumping with a laugh, he pats her back a little too hard.
I'm not a sneaky, spirit-child that brings good fortune... I've got the worst kind of luck.
"I'll tell you more after you've been here a while."
Frowning at her frown, he casually rakes fingers through fluffy bangs to guide thick, unruly locks from his face with a sideways exhale.
Gripping her belt with both hands, "Please, I need to know about the man I've given my life to."
Searching typhoon eyes, she eventually shifts her gaze to the bamboo mat under cracked, dusty feet and raises a hand to rest along the base of her throat, "If he's really the kind of person I thought he was when I swore my life to him…"
Trembling, knuckling the fabric of her dress, "I may have acted too soon…because he killed the men that," lowering her head, she hides tears determined to build a permanent, leaky eye.
Groaning, "Okay, okay," stepping in front of her, waving his hands between them, "Y'know, you cry a lot," he points in her face and she straightens up to keep it out of her face, "Even for a human."
Touching her shoulder and searching puffy, watery eyes, "He said to get you cleaned up and put away. Not to spill my guts," flaring his nostrils, squinting, Sanemaru abruptly claps then nods, "I probably shouldn't've said this much."
…you haven't said anything...
Tapping his chin, "And there's no telling how long you'll survive," he carries on with his outward thought process with no regard for her presence.
"If you die, what was the point in tellin' you at all?" he shrugs his shoulders, bending his arms at the elbow with hands by his shoulders.
No telling how long I'll survive?... Will I really die before he even has the chance to find a use for me? …What's it matter? My odds are the same here as they are being out in the world by myself.
"I -really- don't want to upset Lord Tsukiyomi--it's comin' up on his bad moon. I promise I'll tell you after I know for sure it's okay," he cups her shoulders and brushes her nose with his.
Shuddering, Why is he so close to me!? she's too lost in her thoughts to attempt to push him away.
Male yokai get womb bleeds, too? He must mean something else. Can I really trust the promise of a yokai?
At a loss for words, Have I been lied to my whole life or is this a trick for him to eat my soul and turn me into a brainless slave?!
"Deal?"
Grimacing at their silent stalemate, struggling to contain her spiraling emotions, she hesitantly copies his slow nods and reassuring grin before he leans back with a face full of teeth.
Lord Paśupati (paa-shoo-pa-tee), please don't let me regret this. He seems nice--kinda, sort of, but not really. It's not like -I- can't stop him from anything. And someone his size is STILL scared of Tsukiyomi. Trembling, she runs her palm down her face and neck, gently cupping the base of her throat as anxiety accelerates her heart rate.
Rubbing her chest to self soothe until he tugs at her sleeve, ushering her to continue with him down the hall, they soon get back to walking.
"Anything else?"
Taking this opportunity to stay persistent, "You can't tell me -anything- about him?"
"Well," scratching the back of his head with a cheeky snort, "He only likes cleanliness."
Pointing in the air and shaking his hand, "He always says, "A filthy outside creates a filthy inside"."
Raising an eyebrow as they step in front of a closed door, "Lord Sanemaru?"
He stops in his tracks and faces her, "Call me Sane. Sah-Nay," he mouths the syllables, pinching her cheeks and tugging them in sync.
He's crazy! Stop touching me so much!
Releasing her when she swats his hands away, "I'm a servant, just like you," he caresses her upper arm, trapping her in monsoon eyes before dimples move in for the kill.
...I shouldn't be so quick to judge. He's really not -all- that bad…
"We're equals," he cocks his head and squints, "...uh... What's your name, anyways?"
HE thinks I'M -his- equal?... He's very tolerant of humans…
"...Umeko," a sudden shyness overtakes her, his warmth shining through the gloom clouding her heart and brightening her mood.
"Nice to meet you, Umeko (oo-may-CO)," he replies with a toothy smirk, her name on his tongue sending chills down her spine.
"Your beauty suits your name-- plum blossom child," he tucks her hair behind her ear and she tenses.
Ohhhhhhhh SHHHHH! This was a horrible idea. Am I even -safe- here? Great job, Umeko! Empress of bad decisions!
Eyes widening until she stonewalls, her heart vibrates and panic parachutes in.
Sanemaru quickly withdraws, glancing from his hand to her face, "Why're you so stiff?"
Angling his head with twitching ears, "You don't think…? Ahahaha, no no no," shaking index fingers in front of her face, "You're cute and all but," he pauses to turn his cheek to her, "I don't -do- humans."
Piqued, "He wants me to show you the ropes," Sanemaru crosses his arms and rocks back and forth on sinewy feet, "I'm like a big brother… -If- you'd call me anything." Shooting her a reassuring smile, stubbled dimples disarm her long enough for him to pet the top of her head as they reach a set of sliding doors and Sanemaru slides it open.
Dazzled by the inconceivable, visual pleasures hiding behind an ordinary, wood and paper door, Umeko's breath is hijacked the moment she can get out the first 'wow' of many. The humanoid steeds' muscles flexing against the underside of his shirt momentarily steals her gaze as he finishes sliding it open; an enchanting, indoor grotto magnetizes her with an impossibly beautiful hot spring stretching across the entire back half of a mountainous room.
Colorful boulders and crystals of different shapes and sizes line inviting waters blanketed with steam. Above the encompassing, flowing life essence, walls connecting to the ceiling have protruding, spiky clusters of every color graced by the warm light of floating, amber orbs. Blinking hard and rubbing her eyes, Umeko's brown irises refocus straight above her; following the crystal ceiling, it flows into a sea of stars with swirling glitters of rocks and rings of orange, purple and blue.
...This can't be the world I grew up in...
The sound of Sanemaru's bare skin slapping damp stone with every step reminds her to keep walking along the smooth, lava stone walkway that divides an indoor garden. Ending at the pool's boulder-studded edge, black, porous rock stretches from wall to wall. Spaced out, brass oil lamps line the path, gently illuminating sprouts of colorful white and purple flowers surrounded by luscious, dark green grass covered in dew.
The heat from Sanemaru's breath caressing Umeko's ear startles her into relocating, "Impressive, huh?"
Nudging her with excitement, he grabs her hand and pulls her from the door's entrance, "Lord Tsukiyomi created all this," sweeping the air with his hand, he then peers into her soul and tightens his firm, calloused grip on her hand.
I'll die if he keeps looking at me like that!
"...because he wanted to create a sanctuary hidden from the prying eyes of the rest of the world," Sanemaru releases her hand to wrap an arm around her shoulders and lean in close.
"After seeing what this world had to offer," flaring his nostrils and scrunching his nose, the steed yokai adds distance between their faces but maintains his grip on her opposite shoulder, "He chose this group of mountains for his home."
… I don't smell -that- bad… Do I?...
"He's got the most power I've ever seen," they step onto the widening portion of the path that holds two large, brass cauldrons filled with burning, green and gray stones on the opposite sides of them.
Letting her go, Umeko roams to imperial furniture, "And working for him is a sap-run," he paces aimlessly, "Most of the time he sends us off to do whatever we want so he can sulk or go off alone."
Turning to face him from her short distance away, she raises her hand to her dusty cheek.
Restraining from pressing her teeth into her bottom lip and scrunching her eyebrows together, she catches him leaning with arms crossed and a foot raised under him against an egg-shaped, translucent jade ending beneath rounded, muscular shoulder blades. Lulling, amber orbs shine through surrounding crystals that sparkle from glowing, gray eyes.
Like the heavens breaking a storm to shine upon the chosen one, Umeko's breath slows as it fills her lungs.
This has to be a trap. He knows how good he looks and how to move to look like that!
Pointed ears perk up as he straightens, casually acknowledging her, "What's up?"
Sanemaru purses his lips with his bottom lip trapped between his teeth.
…That is… Such a -weird- face he's making… He kinda looks like…a horse. Gah! What was I gonna–?
Withdrawing from her momentary haze, "Does he bring humans here a lot?"
Hesitating a frown, she reflects harder on her words after hearing them out in the open.
…Another question I never thought I'd ask anyone…
Sucking in a controlled breath to keep her wits, she examines Sanemaru's, "Hm?"
"Oh," his eyes roll across his upper lids and away from her.
"Ehhh… -Sometimes-," the fire-haired yokai shrugs his shoulders, "He brings 'em here," he points in a circle around the room.
"-Sometimes- he ruts them in the wild and leaves 'em where they lay-- intact enough to crawl away…"
His dark chuckle pairs with a full-bodied nod and tart aftertaste, "If they're lucky."
Umeko blinks blankly.
Sanemaru's demeanor shifts back into business, shaking his head 'no' at capturing the terror filling this young woman's features.
"But, you're the first human to be a -servant-, y'know?"
Mocha eyelids lower as he tilts his head slightly back, curiously eyeing Umeko up and down, "So I -really- don't know what his plans are."
Sanemaru clicks the inside of his cheek while cradling air and a dimple peeking through stubble goes unnoticed.