Afternoon Tea (Eriol/Meiling)

[storypaint]

Comm: 31_days theme exchange
Words: 843
Title: Afternoon Tea
Day/Theme: 03 // seek the old man's counsel
Series: Cardcaptor Sakura
Character/Pairing: Hiiragizawa Eriol/Li Meiling (hints)
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP.

Excerpt: "Syaoran told me that you said that Clow didn't predict that he and Sakura would... be together," Meiling said.

"Would you like some tea?" Eriol asked Meiling, and she nodded, but said, "Not green. I hate green tea."

He left and came back with the tea. When Meiling lifted the cup to her lips, it smelled strange. It tasted almost watery.

"English tea," Eriol said to her quizzical expression.

She made a mental note that she disliked English tea as well, and sipped at it in silence for a long moment.

"You wanted to talk to me?" he said at last, looking at her over his cup. She nodded a little. Now that she was in his presence she felt a little silly. This wasn't the boy Syaoran used to rail about. She had the feeling that he had never been as Syaoran described him, exasperating and falsely polite. He seemed too adult for that.

"Yes," she said. "I wanted to ask you something."

He lifted his eyebrows. "Ask away." He sipped at his tea. Meiling set hers down out of the way.

"Syaoran told me that you said that Clow didn't predict that he and Sakura would... be together."

She mumbled the last words miserably. Meiling was never very good at hiding her feelings. He felt a surge of compassion for her.

"No, he didn't," Eriol said, knowing where she was going with this and unhappy because of it.

"So, does that mean that Syaoran was supposed to be with me? Originally?"

She couldn't help that her voice squeaked a little, though she seemed embarrassed.

"Well, Li-san, it means that love is hard to predict," he answered her. "Clow predicted that Sakura would love Yukito, because of the power of the moon, and that Yukito would love her back. But Yukito chose another and so did Sakura. Love is hard to predict."

He was thinking of his own love as well when he told her this, but he didn't mention it. She was probably the only one who knew his secret that didn't know he had been dating Kaho. That's what he wanted-- one friend who wouldn't tiptoe around the touchy subject. That was the reason he'd come back to Tomoeda in the first place. He couldn't imagine her motivation for being here watching the one she loved as he loved another. She and Tomoyo had strength like that. He couldn't stand it; he'd had to move away.

He sipped his tea to remain calm. This was a brand that Kaho didn't like, and silly or not, that's why he drank it. He wasn't ready to move on from silly grieving yet.

"Oh, I see," Meiling said. All of the fight and the pretense went out of her and she lowered her shoulders and looked away from him.

"Clow was really only good at predicting the big stuff," Eriol explained. "He picked Sakura out and made sure she was born, and things like that, but he couldn't fully imagine her heart, or what she was wearing the day she opened the Clow Book, or any of that."

Meiling nodded. She looked so despondent that he reached for her hand. She looked very surprised when he kissed it.

"He couldn't have predicted that either," Eriol said, smiling, as Meiling pulled her hand away and wondered if Syaoran's stories were true. He was a flirt and a charmer, Syaoran had said once. He'd never said how easily Eriol carried himself, or that he had confidence in his eyes, or that his glasses were so impossibly round. She supposed it hadn't been important to Syaoran; she wondered why it suddenly had become important to her.

"Thank you very much," she said in a frosty tone. He just smiled. Suddenly she laughed.

"You gave Syaoran a lot of trouble, didn't you?" she said, and he nodded.

"He's easy to rile up," she said. "I have so many stories-- things his sisters did and I did--"

Eriol leaned forward a little bit. "Oh, really?" He sounded quite interested.

They spent the afternoon with Meiling telling stories about Syaoran and Eriol telling stories about the Clow Cards, and it was a good time. Meiling didn't notice when her tea grew cold (she didn't really like it anyway), but she did notice when the sun began to fall from the sky.

"It's getting late," she said, "I should go. But I had a nice time..."

Eriol rose and offered his arm to help her to her feet. At the door he kissed her hand again, and this time she didn't pull away. She blushed just a little and said, "See you around!"

As she walked away, Eriol smiled. She was a nice girl, Li Meiling, full of ideals and thoughts and personality. And wouldn't Syaoran be so disturbed when he heard that Eriol was dating his beloved cousin?

Not that they were. But casually mentioning where Meiling had been all afternoon at school tomorrow would elicit one of Syaoran's best evil glares.

Humming a little, Eriol went back indoors and narrowly missed tripping over Meiling's glass of tea.