A/N: For Chie's 2023 12 Days of Promptmas event!
Day 1 Dec 14th: Candlelight
.
.
The entire evening is a mess.
Sesshomaru had learned from an inadvertent slip of his mate's tongue that candlelit dinners were something human men did to be romantic. He made every attempt to show her that he can adapt, that he can follow her ways as well as his own.
Only to have it all end in flames. One of the candles is knocked over in his mate's eagerness to kiss him after she witnesses the candlelit meal, ensuring the entire affair burns to a crisp.
"I'm really sorry," Kagome apologizes again as she scrapes the last of the burnt food off. "I really didn't mean to—"
"It is I who have erred." Sesshomaru exhales as he puts the dishes in water to soak. "I failed to account for—"
"How could you?" She gives him a pointed look. "You can't plan for everything, Sesshomaru. Mistakes happen."
He lifts his chin. "Yet you do not forgive yourself, either."
Kagome opens and shuts her mouth. "That's true," she agrees after a moment. "How about we just write this one off as a mistake on both our parts."
He's amused by the attempt, since the fault is solely his own, but he recognizes the conciliation when he hears it. "Very well." He is already working out a new plan to have a meal this way without tonight's fiery ending. "For now," he adds as her stomach rumbles, "we will prepare another meal."
She kisses him for just a moment as he relishes the soft touch. "OK." She smiles. "Let's start the night over from here, mate. We can cook together this time, too."
Her happiness shows on every iota of her face and, for now at least, he is able to set aside the disaster and focus on the moment, here and now, with his mate.