storypaint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
storypaint) wrote2009-10-16 07:43 am
storypaint) wrote2009-10-16 07:43 am
Courting (Clow/Yuuko)
Title: Courting
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 734 words
Prompt:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
31_days: 15 Oct 09 // tempting me into the garden
Pairing: Clow/Yuuko
Other: n/a
Excerpt: In the purse of his lips she saw a name that she herself hadn't spoken in over a century. How rude, she thought, frowning, shifting on her couch, and she interrupted him before he could say it.
He was familiar, somehow, when they met, even though this was the first time she'd ever seen him in the physical world. This grinning trickster, this brilliant mage, had wandered through her dreams before, more than once. It had irritated her, his invasion of her privacy, but still she couldn't bring herself to shut him out. She was curious.
So she wasn't surprised entirely when he turned up at her doorstep, wearing that knowing grin and positively glowing with the mysteries of the ages, or so he thought. It wasn't time yet for Maru and Moro, so he let himself in, sliding open the door to her sitting room and stepping forward into a wealth of curling smoke. She was at repose across her divan, and her eyes were on him.
In the purse of his lips she saw a name that she herself hadn't spoken in over a century. How rude, she thought, frowning, shifting on her couch, and she interrupted him before he could say it.
"You may call me Yuuko."
"Wonderful," he answered, not skipping a beat, "that we can be on first-name basis right away. I'm Clow Reed."
He reached for her hand and kissed it. She looked up at him and said, "You're a headache," but he just grinned.
"So you've heard of me already."
She leaned over and set her pipe down, letting the smoke curl up toward the ceiling lazily, and then stretched over the arm of the couch.
"What is your wish, Reed-san?" she asked, deliberately using the distancing honorific.
"It's not time for that yet," he answered, and then, "Clow is fine."
She ignored that, narrowing her eyes. "If you've come to this shop, you must have a wish."
"Not yet," he answered, pointing a finger at her, mock-scolding. "Why are you so impatient, Yuuko-chan?"
"I'm running a business here," she said, eyes challenging back.
"And that I am well aware," he responded, "but even the most dedicated shopkeeper gets time off each week, correct?"
She sat up straight, her eyes now more piercing than lazy, even as the smoke lingered in the room. She stared at him, stared through him, and he just stood and let her, which irritated more. He loomed over her, even though his spine was curled apologetically, and she knew that even if she stood, the tall woman that she was, he would still be taller.
The moment passed and she reclined back onto her couch, adjusting her dress and laughing. "You want to take the Time-Space Witch on a date."
"Are you free Saturday?" he answered, unperturbed by her amusement.
"No, I'm washing my hair," she said dryly.
"Surely that won't take all evening," he said. In response, she reached up and pulled several pins from her elaborate hairstyle. It fell loosely around her, pooling against the couch.
"Then surely," he continued smoothly, "you would appreciate having someone else to help brush it."
"Not a creep like you," she retorted, pinning her hair back up. He watched her hands tangle in the dark strands and was utterly distracted for a moment.
"You should have a good dinner before such an undertaking," he said, recovering. She frowned at him, stretching out the silence, but he just smiled and waited.
"And good wine," she said finally. "Six o'clock. I'd assume you can find this place again."
"I'm having a wish granted," he answered, grinning wickedly, "so of course I will."
He leaned down and kissed her hand again in parting, and she resisted the urge to throw something at him, because all she had at hand was her pipe, and she liked it too much to sacrifice it. She watched him go, thinking that she'd see the last of him after Saturday, and knowing that wasn't true. He may have dreamed of her first, but she'd dreamed of him too, and such things are never coincidence.
Which didn't mean she wouldn't make him pay for the privilege. He could afford it.
She leaned back on her couch and picked up her pipe again, and after a moment caught herself wondering what she should wear.
Then she growled at nothing, promising the idiot a thousand pointed remarks for making her think that way, and got up to change. There was a real customer coming in a while.
(And on Saturday, she didn't emerge from her bedroom until six-thirty. He just smiled and poured the wine.)
Fandom: xxxHOLiC
Length: 734 words
Prompt:
31_days: 15 Oct 09 // tempting me into the gardenPairing: Clow/Yuuko
Other: n/a
Excerpt: In the purse of his lips she saw a name that she herself hadn't spoken in over a century. How rude, she thought, frowning, shifting on her couch, and she interrupted him before he could say it.
He was familiar, somehow, when they met, even though this was the first time she'd ever seen him in the physical world. This grinning trickster, this brilliant mage, had wandered through her dreams before, more than once. It had irritated her, his invasion of her privacy, but still she couldn't bring herself to shut him out. She was curious.
So she wasn't surprised entirely when he turned up at her doorstep, wearing that knowing grin and positively glowing with the mysteries of the ages, or so he thought. It wasn't time yet for Maru and Moro, so he let himself in, sliding open the door to her sitting room and stepping forward into a wealth of curling smoke. She was at repose across her divan, and her eyes were on him.
In the purse of his lips she saw a name that she herself hadn't spoken in over a century. How rude, she thought, frowning, shifting on her couch, and she interrupted him before he could say it.
"You may call me Yuuko."
"Wonderful," he answered, not skipping a beat, "that we can be on first-name basis right away. I'm Clow Reed."
He reached for her hand and kissed it. She looked up at him and said, "You're a headache," but he just grinned.
"So you've heard of me already."
She leaned over and set her pipe down, letting the smoke curl up toward the ceiling lazily, and then stretched over the arm of the couch.
"What is your wish, Reed-san?" she asked, deliberately using the distancing honorific.
"It's not time for that yet," he answered, and then, "Clow is fine."
She ignored that, narrowing her eyes. "If you've come to this shop, you must have a wish."
"Not yet," he answered, pointing a finger at her, mock-scolding. "Why are you so impatient, Yuuko-chan?"
"I'm running a business here," she said, eyes challenging back.
"And that I am well aware," he responded, "but even the most dedicated shopkeeper gets time off each week, correct?"
She sat up straight, her eyes now more piercing than lazy, even as the smoke lingered in the room. She stared at him, stared through him, and he just stood and let her, which irritated more. He loomed over her, even though his spine was curled apologetically, and she knew that even if she stood, the tall woman that she was, he would still be taller.
The moment passed and she reclined back onto her couch, adjusting her dress and laughing. "You want to take the Time-Space Witch on a date."
"Are you free Saturday?" he answered, unperturbed by her amusement.
"No, I'm washing my hair," she said dryly.
"Surely that won't take all evening," he said. In response, she reached up and pulled several pins from her elaborate hairstyle. It fell loosely around her, pooling against the couch.
"Then surely," he continued smoothly, "you would appreciate having someone else to help brush it."
"Not a creep like you," she retorted, pinning her hair back up. He watched her hands tangle in the dark strands and was utterly distracted for a moment.
"You should have a good dinner before such an undertaking," he said, recovering. She frowned at him, stretching out the silence, but he just smiled and waited.
"And good wine," she said finally. "Six o'clock. I'd assume you can find this place again."
"I'm having a wish granted," he answered, grinning wickedly, "so of course I will."
He leaned down and kissed her hand again in parting, and she resisted the urge to throw something at him, because all she had at hand was her pipe, and she liked it too much to sacrifice it. She watched him go, thinking that she'd see the last of him after Saturday, and knowing that wasn't true. He may have dreamed of her first, but she'd dreamed of him too, and such things are never coincidence.
Which didn't mean she wouldn't make him pay for the privilege. He could afford it.
She leaned back on her couch and picked up her pipe again, and after a moment caught herself wondering what she should wear.
Then she growled at nothing, promising the idiot a thousand pointed remarks for making her think that way, and got up to change. There was a real customer coming in a while.
(And on Saturday, she didn't emerge from her bedroom until six-thirty. He just smiled and poured the wine.)