Dec. 18th [xxxHOLiC] Agreements

[lady-kikyou.livejournal.com]

Title: Agreements
Day/Theme: Dec. 18th - Her own brand of sanity
Series: xxxHOLiC
Character/Pairing: Clow Reed x Yuuko Ichihara
Rating: PG 

When he walked past the entrance door, he had found her lounging on her divan, her elongated and perfectly visible legs coming out of her skimpy kimono. She held a half-empty glass of scotch in one hand, while her free arm was draping by her side, motionless.

 

All things considered, he figured he shouldn’t be too surprised to find her in such a state so soon in the morning, but even so, her behavior still earned a comment from him. 

 

“Isn’t it too early for you to be drinking?” His tone was a scolding one, but he smiled nonetheless.

 

“Isn’t it too early for you to pestering me in my holy sanctuary?” She retorted, devious smirk ever in place.

 

“Given the sort of business you run, I would hardly call this a sanctuary, dearest.”

 

“Of course it is. It is a very peaceful and overall wonderful place,” At this point, she paused, just to give him a proper glare. “Until certain people walk right in, unannounced.”

 

“If I am that unwelcome to stay, I can still leave.”

 

“Would you really be so kind?”

 

“Well, no,” He conceded, his silly grin widening just a little. “But I figured you wouldn’t send me away, so it was safe to offer.”

 

She laughed in spite of herself. “I wouldn’t be too sure next time, you know.”

 

She motioned for him to take a seat and he nodded in acknowledgment, proceeding to situate himself on a few Chinese cushions lying on the floor, right across from her resting spot. For a long while, witch and magician simply watched each other in silent reflection, as though fishing for words – which, as a matter of fact, they were. He never knew what to say whenever he was in such a delicate position, while she just couldn’t quite imagine what to expect from that man back then.  

 

After a moment, he decided to speak first and smiled yet again. He knew she could probably tell it wasn’t as natural of a gesture as he had intended, but he thought it was worth a try, anyway.

 

“This place seems a bit too quiet, doesn’t it?”

 

“Soel and Larg are upstairs, sleeping.”

 

“Ah, I see,” This time, his fond smile was very much real. “They must have spent a lot of energy yesterday, I suppose.”

 

“Not any more than usual. That is just what mostly everyone does around this hour of the morning, though. They sleep.” She replied in a bored, rather annoyed fashion, for she was stating the obvious.

 

“Which reminds me,” He asked, out of genuine curiosity. “Why is it that you are not sleeping as well?”

 

“Well, let’s see. I had an itching feeling that this wacky, four-eyed creep of a magician with no sense of self-preservation or respect for my privacy whatsoever would pay me a visit by now and hey, guess what?” She brought a hand to the side of her face and gaped, in mock surprise. “I was right.”

 

He chuckled, amused. “But you could have simply ignored said feeling, Yuuko dear.”

 

She snickered. “At the risk of having wacky magician sneak into my room and catch poor old me completely off guard in my nightly gown? Honestly, Clow. Whom do you take me for?”

 

He considered voicing a reply, but stopped before any of his thoughts could be heard out loud. In the end, he did have some sense of self-preservation, after all.

 

Another lingering moment of silence came between the two and, if possible, their whole predicament grew even more awkward. Lethargically as usual, she raised her glass to her mouth and sipped her beverage, running her tongue between her lips in a very deceptive motion. She waited for a minute to see whether he would start rambling again, and when he didn’t, she took matters into her own hands.

 

“What really brought you here, Clow?”

 

For once, he didn’t bother to give her an overly elaborated response. “I wanted to talk.”

 

“Alright,” She made a dramatic gesture with her hands and heaved a loud sigh, for added effect. She was in for a long lecture, she thought. “I’m listening.”

 

“It’s not so simple,” He shook his head, chuckling a little at her reaction. “There isn’t a particular topic I want to discuss, or an idea I would like to share. I just wanted to talk.”

 

Yuuko stared at him, half expectantly. She finally realized he was not going to give her much of an explanation unless she made a direct attempt, and so she did. “Is there something wrong?”

 

“I can’t say there isn’t, though I can’t quite name the issue, either,” He sighed. “Now that I think about it, perhaps that is exactly the problem.”

 

“I see. It’s okay for even you to be unsure sometimes,” She comforted him, tentatively.

 

“Perhaps. But there comes a time when things border on unbearable and begin to push your limits,” His eyes sought hers and he offered a sad smile. “It becomes too hard to keep it all to yourself then.”

 

“So that’s why you needed to talk it out?”

 

“I suppose, yes,” He lowered his head in thought, and his glasses almost slid off of his nose. Once that had been dealt with, he moved on. “I would have tried sharing the burden with Kerberos and Yue but, as my creations, they are also a part of me. In the end, they would probably wind up as confused as I am.”

 

“You didn’t want to trouble them, and so you came to me, huh?”

 

He nodded. “I didn’t mean to disturb you like this, and for that, I apologize. It is just that no one else can help me as well as you can.”

 

“Oh?” She blinked in mild surprise. “And why is that?”

 

“You understand, Yuuko. Sometimes better than I can understand myself, even.”

 

Her eyes widened for a second, if only slightly. It didn’t take long for a kind smile to spring on her featured, replacing that once stunned expression with a much warmer one.

 

In a delicate movement, Yuuko sat up straight and finally rose to her feet afterwards, her glass still firmly held between her fingers. She strode her way over to where Clow was and, once they were close enough, she kneeled down so they would be at the same height, careful as to not trip on her own kimono. With her free hand, she caressed the side of his face for a minute then kissed his forehead, inwardly giggling at how silly that man was. Selfish as it was, she actually enjoyed knowing he needed her so much. There was no need for embarrassment, no reason to apologize. 

 

“You’re such an idiot,” Her words might be harsh, but as she enveloped him in a loving embrace, her actions clearly stated her true intentions. “Who says I can understand you? If anything, your mood swings drive me crazy!”

 

“Ah, but you keep me sane,” He smiled and returned the hug in kind, taking in her most delightful scent. “That is a great feat, in and by itself.”

 

“Well, that is not very fair, is it?” She laughed and poked his chest, teasingly. “I mean, who will keep me sane?”

 

“I suppose this will,” He took the empty glass from her hand. “It is your very special brand of sanity, isn’t it?”

 

“Maybe. In which case, I’m running low on sanity here.”

 

“Oh, then for my own sake, I should get you some more, right?”

 

                  “Yay!” She grinned, clapping her hands together in glee. “Now we’re talking!”