storypaint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
storypaint) wrote2009-08-23 10:29 pm
storypaint) wrote2009-08-23 10:29 pm
Ourselves We Find in the Sea (Clow/Yuuko)
Title: Ourselves We Find in the Sea
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 728 words
Prompt: see lyric prompt below the cut
Pairing: Clow/Yuuko
Other: Thirteenth in a series; table of contents.
Excerpt: It was Wednesday, perhaps, or maybe Thursday, and he was rubbing sunscreen onto her perfectly pale feet, when she sighed theatrically and stretched, curving her spine like a bow.
Yuuko's favorite season was autumn, and Clow's was spring, but the Mokona loved summer the most, and the two of them could never resist spoiling their "children." They spent a week at the beach in July-- a beach in another, slightly more empty world, where Yuuko's red-enameled toes and matching bikini wouldn't cause any lifted eyebrows.
She hated the heat and made no secret of it, keeping Clow busy with fanning and ice and finding a giant umbrella. He didn't protest these ministrations, seeming to find them as necessary as the cooler-spell and the beach towels.
It was a week in which each day blended easily into the next, a week where time seemed to pause and the only thing that moved, some hours, was the sun as he carefully kept the passage of time that the four of them ignored.
It was Wednesday, perhaps, or maybe Thursday, and he was rubbing sunscreen onto her perfectly pale feet, when she sighed theatrically and stretched, curving her spine like a bow. He stared appreciatively for a moment as her breasts bounced. The Mokona were taking an afternoon nap, and they'd taken the opportunity to sunbathe alone (or at least camp out under the umbrella together).
"We should stay a while longer," she said softly.
"It's going to start raining next week," he replied, his voice calm. "Monsoon season."
She sat up, rescuing her feet from his ministrations and curling an arm around her knees. The other hand drifted into the sand, found a seashell, and pressed it close to her ear. Why she wanted to hear the ocean when it lay not one hundred feet away from her, Clow didn't ask. She shut her eyes and listened, and he was also quiet.
This wasn't about the vacation, exactly. It was about the time slipping away from them. Next summer, the Mokonas would be asleep. She'd still spend time with her feet on ice, complaining plaintively, but it wouldn't be like it was now.
When she opened her eyes, she rose, and then nearly jerked him to his feet. He rose quickly so she didn't strain herself with the effort, and let himself be led down to the ocean. They walked along the beach, ankles deep in the outgoing tide. Their bodies brushed with their steps, occasionally; they were walking close enough to embrace, if either had desired it, but neither did. They simply walked together as the sun began to set, painting gold across the surface of the water.
"Monday," he said finally. "It will start raining on Tuesday."
She grinned in victory and then broke from him, darting into the receding waves, leaning down to splash water at him. He shouted a good-natured protest but then strode in after her, splashing back, adding enough power to produce enough water to soak her hair. She howled in mock anger.
"This is war, Reed!"
"I believe you struck first, darling," he replied, totally unsurprised by the wall of water that nonetheless nearly bowled him over. When he emerged from the wave completely dry, she stomped over and pushed him over into the ocean. He let himself get wet then, wrestling with her and splashing and laughing at the insults she was hurling.
Eventually the noise carried enough to wake two tired Mokona, who became immediately awake enough to participate in the game, and the three of them dogpiled on Clow, a fact which he accepted with mock dismay and inner amusement. They all slept very well that night, his legs tangled in hers and Mokonas tangled in their hair.
*
When it rained all day on Monday, they stayed indoors and played card games with rules and bets that changed at Yuuko's whim. She won every game and as prize claimed a bottle of alcohol from his stash that she'd been coveting for the past few years.
When the Mokona went out to splash around in puddles, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "One more day?"
She looked away haughtily. "In this weather? You must be joking."
"You're right," he replied, a smile sliding onto his face. "There's only one thing to do when it's too damp to go outdoors." His hand brushed down her cheek, across her shoulder. The touch was light but there was something almost needy in his face, in the realization that these simple brushes of skin to skin would soon be as much of a memory as this vacation. She leaned into his hand for a moment.
"Clearly," she said, "the thing to do is to go out and dance in the rain."
So they did.
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 728 words
Prompt: see lyric prompt below the cut
Pairing: Clow/Yuuko
Other: Thirteenth in a series; table of contents.
Excerpt: It was Wednesday, perhaps, or maybe Thursday, and he was rubbing sunscreen onto her perfectly pale feet, when she sighed theatrically and stretched, curving her spine like a bow.
And time won't pass us by,
And you won't tell me lies,
Someday we all have to die
... but not now.
-The Sun Doesn't Like You, Norah Jones
Yuuko's favorite season was autumn, and Clow's was spring, but the Mokona loved summer the most, and the two of them could never resist spoiling their "children." They spent a week at the beach in July-- a beach in another, slightly more empty world, where Yuuko's red-enameled toes and matching bikini wouldn't cause any lifted eyebrows.
She hated the heat and made no secret of it, keeping Clow busy with fanning and ice and finding a giant umbrella. He didn't protest these ministrations, seeming to find them as necessary as the cooler-spell and the beach towels.
It was a week in which each day blended easily into the next, a week where time seemed to pause and the only thing that moved, some hours, was the sun as he carefully kept the passage of time that the four of them ignored.
It was Wednesday, perhaps, or maybe Thursday, and he was rubbing sunscreen onto her perfectly pale feet, when she sighed theatrically and stretched, curving her spine like a bow. He stared appreciatively for a moment as her breasts bounced. The Mokona were taking an afternoon nap, and they'd taken the opportunity to sunbathe alone (or at least camp out under the umbrella together).
"We should stay a while longer," she said softly.
"It's going to start raining next week," he replied, his voice calm. "Monsoon season."
She sat up, rescuing her feet from his ministrations and curling an arm around her knees. The other hand drifted into the sand, found a seashell, and pressed it close to her ear. Why she wanted to hear the ocean when it lay not one hundred feet away from her, Clow didn't ask. She shut her eyes and listened, and he was also quiet.
This wasn't about the vacation, exactly. It was about the time slipping away from them. Next summer, the Mokonas would be asleep. She'd still spend time with her feet on ice, complaining plaintively, but it wouldn't be like it was now.
When she opened her eyes, she rose, and then nearly jerked him to his feet. He rose quickly so she didn't strain herself with the effort, and let himself be led down to the ocean. They walked along the beach, ankles deep in the outgoing tide. Their bodies brushed with their steps, occasionally; they were walking close enough to embrace, if either had desired it, but neither did. They simply walked together as the sun began to set, painting gold across the surface of the water.
"Monday," he said finally. "It will start raining on Tuesday."
She grinned in victory and then broke from him, darting into the receding waves, leaning down to splash water at him. He shouted a good-natured protest but then strode in after her, splashing back, adding enough power to produce enough water to soak her hair. She howled in mock anger.
"This is war, Reed!"
"I believe you struck first, darling," he replied, totally unsurprised by the wall of water that nonetheless nearly bowled him over. When he emerged from the wave completely dry, she stomped over and pushed him over into the ocean. He let himself get wet then, wrestling with her and splashing and laughing at the insults she was hurling.
Eventually the noise carried enough to wake two tired Mokona, who became immediately awake enough to participate in the game, and the three of them dogpiled on Clow, a fact which he accepted with mock dismay and inner amusement. They all slept very well that night, his legs tangled in hers and Mokonas tangled in their hair.
*
When it rained all day on Monday, they stayed indoors and played card games with rules and bets that changed at Yuuko's whim. She won every game and as prize claimed a bottle of alcohol from his stash that she'd been coveting for the past few years.
When the Mokona went out to splash around in puddles, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "One more day?"
She looked away haughtily. "In this weather? You must be joking."
"You're right," he replied, a smile sliding onto his face. "There's only one thing to do when it's too damp to go outdoors." His hand brushed down her cheek, across her shoulder. The touch was light but there was something almost needy in his face, in the realization that these simple brushes of skin to skin would soon be as much of a memory as this vacation. She leaned into his hand for a moment.
"Clearly," she said, "the thing to do is to go out and dance in the rain."
So they did.