The smell of food woke Hiei from his doze but he was in no hurry to move. Only when Kurama called out to him did he open his ruby colored eyes and push himself carefully to his feet. The fire demon hobbled into the kitchen and dropped gracefully into a chair at one of the plates his fox had set out.

Just then, Hiei's stomach decided to issue a rather loud reminder that he had eaten nothing since breakfast. 'Hmph. I lecture Kurama about the importance of eating regularly and then I skip meals myself.' He could have laughed at his own hypocrisy but he settled for simply rubbing his rumbling stomach and sniffing the air appreciatively. Whatever the fox had prepared smelled delicious.

Kurama couldn’t tell if his partner had been merely lying with his eyes closed or if he was actually asleep. It was a habit of the darker-haired demon that often confused the rest of the team during their time at the hotel during the Dark Tournament. Either way, the smell of food seemed to lure Hiei off the couch and into the kitchen. Following behind him, Kurama took the unoccupied chair at the table just as the smaller demon’s stomach gave a load groan. ”Sounds like someone’s hungry,” Kurama said with a smile. The redhead dished out his cooking to both of their plates. ”Itadakimasu,” he said before taking up his chopsticks and popping a bite of fish into his mouth.

Hiei watched with veiled eagerness as the redhead dished out the meal. Once he had his plate, he offered the fox a nod in thanks before picking up a piece of the flaky fish and popping it into his mouth. His chopsticks lay ignored beside his plate as he worked his way through the meal, until all that was left were a few stray grains of rice in the bottom of his dish. These he quickly finished up before pushing the empty dishes away contentedly. "What kind of fish was that?" He asked slowly. "You should get more." It was as close as he was going to get to saying thank you but he knew the redhead would understand.

Kurama ate his meal at a more leisurely pace as Hiei quickly gobbled up his dinner. The redhead was just beginning to think he should offer him seconds when Hiei spoke up to ask about the dish. Shuichi smiled at the sneaky compliment. ”It’s halibut,” he responded when he had finished chewing his mouthful. ”I like cooking with it because it’s quite versatile,” he explained.

Once he too was finished with his dinner, the redhead collected the dirty plates and began to wash the dishes. ”I was thinking about doing a bit of gardening after dinner,” he said to the black-haired demon seated behind him, ”For Keiko.” His thoughts went out to the expectant mother. Yukina seemed quite experienced with these sorts of cases and he hoped that between the two of them they could ensure she safely gave birth to a healthy baby.

Hiei had no idea what a halibut looked like or where one went to catch them but such things were not terribly important. What mattered was Kurama knowing he appreciated the meal.

The redhead's next sentence was of little surprise to the dark haired demon. The fox was always tinkering with his plants. He wondered if the redhead would be able to accomplish his gardening in the apartment or if he would need to find somewhere outside to give his plants room. Regardless Hiei nodded to the statement. He would not get in the way.

As he finished washing and drying the dishes, the fox thought about which plants would be useful for Keiko. Every tiny seed in his arsenal had some virtue, either as a weapon or as healing agent. Though he was most known for using those plants that were dangerous, he was also well versed in the less hostile breeds. ’Something to give her strength. Perhaps a relaxing agent and pain reducer as well…’ he thought. Though he was sure Yukina would also have some important insights, he wanted to go to the meeting with at least a few things prepared.

Once the chore was complete, Kurama moved to the living room to begin work. Borrowing a large rectangular planter from the balcony, he reverted the plants currently residing inside back to seed form. After slipping these into his red locks, the fox removed three others and gently wedged them into the soil before activating their growing sequence one by one. The first species to emerge looked rather like some of his more hostile plants. Tall stems sprouted red thorns and small green leaves that when in bloom would sprout a cluster of tiny yellow flowers. The next one looked far less threatening. Fuzzy stems sprouted small buds burst forth lilac pom poms. The last one nearly resembled a rose but was a far different breed than the one he used for his whip.

From these three plants, he culled different parts that could be dried and added to hot water to bring out their effects. From the first plant, he carefully cut one of the red stems, from the second one of the lilac balls, and from the rose-like one, he removed a handful of petals. Taking these three different extracts to the kitchen, he cut up the red stem and set everything out to dry. Tomorrow he would finish the job before heading out to the temple. His attention returning to Hiei, Kurama sought the company of his love.

Hiei followed the fox into the livingroom and sat down on the couch to watch him work. Kurama's skill with plants was not as different from Hiei's own affinity to fire as most people might think. Hiei had even incorporated a few of the redhead's youki control methods into his own techniques on occasion. The fire demon felt the rise in the redhead's youki as the plants regressed and then new ones went through months of growth in a matter of moments.

As Kurama began the process of harvesting the plants, Hiei allowed his eyes to close. Making portals between the three realms was precision work and it was mentally tiring to keep the jagan's power in check. He listened as the fox moved into the kitchen with his harvest and a light touch on his love's mind let him know what the other demon was doing. When he felt Kurama's thoughts shift back to him, the fire demon opened his eyes to look in the direction of the kitchen. He found himself wanting to spend time with the redhead before retiring for the night as well and he projected that desire to his love, unable to put it into words without feeling foolish and sentimental.

The redhead smiled as Hiei’s thoughts filtered through his mind and made themselves known. Returning to the living room, the fox sat down on the couch beside Hiei and gently pulled the raven-haired demon into his lap. ”Mmm,” he said, taking in the fire demon’s distinct scent, ”I missed you today.”

Hiei let the taller demon pull him into his lap, blushing slightly as the position made him feel very small. Still, he could not deny that the closeness to his fox was pleasant and the arms around him were strong but not confining. After a few moments of hesitation the fire demon relaxed back against the redhead's shoulder with a small sigh.

"Hn." He offered as his agreement with Kurama's declaration. Hiei let himself bask in the comforting embrace for a few more moments before he spoke again. "Fox...don't ever try this with anyone else around." He warned seriously.

The fire demon knew he would never hear the end of it if Kuwabara or Yusuke saw him being cradled like a child. He accompanied the gentle warning with another glimpse of his emotions for the fox. Contentment and love were foremost in the feelings currently coursing through him and he didn't want the redhead to think the affection was truly unwelcome.

Kurama closed his eyes and let the closeness of Hiei’s warm body take over his senses as the small demon snuggled into his shoulder. The small sigh that escaped his lips made the back of his neck tingle and the fox smiled. He wondered yet again how they could remain clueless about their feelings for so long before finally giving into them.

Opening his eyes, the redhead let out a soft chuckle at Hiei’s warning but nodded to indicate he understood. The affectionate feelings the Jagan user projected his way warmed him and the fox closed his eyes once again. Leaning his head back, Kurama focused on the sensation of Hiei’s chest rising and falling in utter contentment.

Reassured that the fox would be discreet with such displays of affection, Hiei allowed himself to relax more fully into the embrace. He breathed in the light floral scent of the redhead's shampoo and caught one of Kurama's long fingered hands in his own. Intertwining their fingers, he turned his head and placed a light kiss on the taller demon's jawline before nuzzling his head back down onto the firm shoulders behind him.

OOC: Hmm...any ideas for what they should do next? Or should we fast forward to morning?

The redhead’s lips lightly brushed against the raven-haired demon’s forehead for a moment before leaning back against the couch. With Hiei’s warm hand intertwined with his own and his head resting against his shoulder, Kurama let himself truly relax. After a few minutes the fox’s breathing slowed and his head began to droop sideways in slow motion until it came to rest against Hiei’s.

((Nope. You can make another post for the evening or skip to morning if you prefer.))

Hiei felt Kurama's breathing even out in sleep. Not put off by sleeping in a sitting position, the fire demon decided that the couch was a perfectly good place to spend the night and chose not to wake his fox. Instead the shorter demon merely snuggled more securely into the redhead's arms and closed his own eyes. With the scent and youki of his love surrounding him, Hiei was asleep within minutes.

The sun slanting in through the glass balcony doors woke the little fire demon from his unusually pleasant dreams and he yawned languidly before nuzzling Kurama's cheek to wake the sleeping fox.

Kurama felt something nudge against his cheek and opened his eyes. Blinking at the sunlight creeping in through the balcony door, the redhead fought against momentary disorientation. Looking down at the black-haired demon in his eyes, Kurama smiled, ”Good morning,” he said before bending down to give his partner a kiss. His lips brushed gently against Hiei’s before pulling away. ”I guess we fell asleep…” he commented as he checked his watch. It was a bit earlier than he usually awoke but he would need the extra time to shower before work. ”How does your ankle feel?” he asked, pushing Hiei’s pajama leg up for a moment to get a look at the injury.

Hiei watched the redhead wake up slowly and was amazed once again by the amount of trust the fox placed in him. Kurama could be up and ready to fight at a moment's notice if he felt threatened but he obviously felt secure enough in the shorter demon's presence to really relax. The fire demon responded to the greeting with a nod and met the chaste kiss halfway before pulling back.

The comment about their impromptu sleeping arrangement did not require a response but the redhead's inquiry about his ankle required a quick self inventory. Hiei allowed the fox to check the injury for a moment before extricating himself from his partner's lap and standing. He cautiously tested his weight on the injured leg and took a few steps when pain did not immediately flare up.

"Better." He said slowly. "I won't be up to full speed for a day or two but I can walk on it." He elaborated carefully. They wouldn't be doing any racing today. "I'll keep it wrapped for today." The fire demon added thoughtfully, sitting down on the couch and beginning to unwrap the stabilizing bandage that had loosened in the night as the swelling went down. It would need to be rewrapped before they went out to prevent him from overworking the healing joint.

With the bandage removed, Hiei debated taking a bath. His travels the day before had been relatively easy and he wouldn't normally have considered bathing again so soon, but he knew humans were overly sensitive about such things. 'I'll wait and see if Kurama is going to bathe.' The shorter demon decided, as he piled the bandage on the coffee table and stood without it to test his ankle further. Slight tenderness when he moved told him the wrap was indeed a good idea for the day.

Kurama noted that Hiei’s ankle had returned to about normal diameter before the fire demon extracted himself from his lap to give it a test run. The redhead nodded absentmindedly when Hiei gave him the status update and mentioned his intent to keep it wrapped. ”Good idea,” the fox commented before standing up to stretch. His neck muscles felt a bit cramped from the awkward sleeping position but a warm shower would soon take care of that. ”I’m going to bathe before work,” Shuichi informed his partner, ”You can join me if you’d like.”

The redhead stalked off to the bathroom without bothering to see if Hiei would follow him. He didn’t want to be late to work. Removing the crumpled clothing he had worn the day before, Kurama made his way over to the shower in the corner of the room and turned it on. His bathroom was large enough to contain both a shower and a bath and while he most often enjoyed taking a hot bath in the evenings it was also convenient to be able to shower when he was more pressed for time. The redhead stood naked in front of stream of water until it was hot enough before stepping into its path.

Hiei watched the redhead walk away. He debated with himself for a moment before cautiously following his love into the bathroom. The fire demon caught only a glimpse of smooth skin as the fox got into the shower stall but it still caused a strange combination of nervousness and desire to run through him. Not ready for anything like the ideas that crossed his mind, Hiei quickly turned his thoughts to other things.

The demon had never taken a shower before and it seemed to be a totally different process from the bath they had taken the last time. His fox had turned on a stream of artificial rain and was using that to wash. Hiei pondered the invitation his love had extended in light of the small size of the shower stall and decided he wasn't ready for that much closeness without their clothes quite firmly in place. In fact, since the shower stall had to be closed up in order to keep the spraying water from drenching the bathroom, Hiei didn't think he would like that method of bathing even alone. The thought of being enclosed in the box like space made him suppress a shudder.

Still, he had already decided he would bathe if Kurama did, and he was fairly confident he now knew how to use the bathroom's other option for washing well enough to manage without the redhead's guidance. Decision made, Hiei quickly shed his rumpled sleepwear and set about operating the taps that he had seen Kurama use to get water for their last bath. He turned one of the handles all the way on and let it fill the small rinse basin with water before dumping the liquid over his head. The water was ice cold but that didn't particularly bother the elemental demon. Hiei then cast his gaze around for the gooey stuff that made the bubbles. 'Soap.' His memory supplied as he spotted the bottle on the shelf. He squeezed some of the clean smelling glop onto a cloth he had found and squished it around. The soap failed to make any bubbles at all and he replayed the memory in his mind to figure out what he was doing wrong. 'The cloth Kurama gave me was wet.' He realized, quickly rectifying the small error and being rewarded with a fluffy handful of bubbles. Satisfied with his new skill at human style bathing, Hiei began to scrub himself efficiently clean.

OOC: I will pause there to let Kurama have a turn. Lol. Yeah. I don't think severe claustrophobia and shower stalls go well together. Hiei is gonna stick to baths.

Kurama dunked his head under the streaming water to rinse off the shampoo he had lathered into his long hair. Blinking away the water in his eyes, the fox peered out through the glass of the shower stall and noticed a small peach and black blob. It seemed Hiei was beginning to get used to bathing indoors rather than in the nearest stream.

Returning his attention to the task at hand, Kurama slicked conditioner through his flattened red locks before realizing that he would have to share the soap with Hiei. Cutting the shower's stream, the redhead leaned out of the stall. "Hiei, can you toss me the soap?" he asked, pointing to the bottle the fire demon had discarded on the floor.

Hiei startled slightly as the redhead spoke to him but he covered his discomfort quickly enough that he hoped the fox wouldn't notice. The fire demon quickly retrieved the fallen bottle and held it out towards the redhead, carefully leaving a safe distance between them. He found himself averting his eyes from the fox, not wanting to see what Kurama thought of his scarred and stunted form. It was impossible not to compare himself to the redhead's own lithe, beautiful body and Hiei decided with a glance that he did not measure up.

Unaware of Hiei's self-conscious thoughts, Kurama took the offered bottle with a smile. With the fire demon's eyes looking anywhere but at him, the fox took a moment to allow his gaze to linger on his partner's unclothed form. He was think, yet muscular, with a myriad of scars crisscrossing his pale skin. The pain he imagined behind each tiny make made the fox cringe in sympathy but he didn't show it.

"Thanks," he said, slipping back inside the shower before Hiei could notice his appraising glance. Quickly washing his body with the citrus-smelling soap, the redhead turned the shower back on for a minute to rinse his hair and body before stepping out again. The fox took a moment to towel himself dry before making his way to the bedroom to get dressed.

Hiei felt Kurama's eyes on him but he was careful not to listen in on the thoughts that accompanied the appraising stare. As soon as the redhead had relieved him of the soap the fire demon quickly rinsed himself with another basin of water. This time he chose the other tap and the bucket of steaming water he poured over his head would have scalded a human badly. To Hiei it barely even felt warm.

Deciding he was clean enough without washing his spiky hair, the short demon dried himself with a burst of youki and blurred from the bathroom before the resulting steam could even dissipate.

Entering the bedroom, he looked around for his new clothes and was surprised to find them arranged neatly in the closet beside Kurama's more colorful wardrobe. The sight was oddly pleasing to the previously nomadic little demon and he was still standing there, looking over the two very different sets of clothing, when Kurama exited the bathroom.

Blushing at being caught still unclothed, Hiei hurriedly grabbed a pair of khaki colored cargo pants ad a deep green t-shirt from the hangers and darted from the room to dress in the more spacious living room.

Hiei's "caught in the act" look would have made Kurama chuckle if he hasn't recently been made aware of the pain behind his love's hesitation to be seen unclothed. After pausing a minute to track the fire demon's furtive movement, the redhead pulled on a pair of grey slacks and a navy button up shirt. Once dressed, Kurama returned to the bathroom to brush his teeth and blow dry his hair.

Hiei dressed quickly, regretting the speed he had unthinkingly used to exit first the bathroom and then the bedroom. His ankle was noticeably more tender than it had been that morning before the incautious movement but a quick examination told him he hadn't done too much damage with the brief sprint. However, he decided he needed to get the stabilizing wrap back on before the injured joint began to swell again or took further damage. He sat down on the couch and began to neatly wind the bandages back around the bruised flesh with the ease of too much practice. He had to admit that he could have done so the night before but had preferred Kurama's gentle attention. After all, wrapping his foot was much easier than reapplying the wards on his arm. Having two hands to work with made the chore much simpler.

Once he was satisfied with the minor first aid, Hiei stood and went in search of his shoes. The two new pairs he found lined up by the front door and he chose the tennis shoes because the laces made them easier to put on without moving his ankle. Tying them took a few moments to figure out because he had never had shoe laces to deal with before. After studying one of Kurama's shoes for a few minutes in an attempt to discover the secret of the looping bow that humans seemed to prefer for their footwear, Hiei gave up and simply tied off the strings in a loose knot and tucked the excess length into the side of each shoe.

He ran one hand through his hair to make it behave as much as it ever did and then sought out his fox, ready to face his first real day as an official resident of Ningenkai. He located his new coat in the closet and carried it over his arm as he tracked the redhead to the bathroom and leaned in the doorway.

The redhead looked out from under a tangle of red locks and spotted Hiei. Turning off the machine he was using to dry his red hair gave Hiei's clothed form another appraising glance. The ensemble looked...normal, he decided, if weren't for the knots on his shoes. Shuichi considered informing Hiei that wearing shoes in the house wasn't deemed appropriate by Japanese culture but the fox chose not to comment on it. Hiei would learn soon enough and if not, the redhead would give him a gentle nudge before they went to visit his mother.

Using a brush to smooth his tangled mane, the redhead took a moment to inspect himself in the mirror before leaving the bathroom. "All ready?" Kurama asked as he led the way to the door. Slipping his feet into a pair of loafers, he grabbed his coat from the hook and unlocked the door before turning to make sure his partner was indeed ready.

Hiei followed the redhead through the apartment silently. He nodded and donned his coat as the redhead made his final preparations to leave. The fire demon left the black coat open and shoved his hands in his pockets as he moved past the redhead into the hallway. Hiei suppressed his desire to exit the enclosed corridor at once and focused imstead on his love's soothing presence.