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31_days2006-10-09 10:32 pm
still-ciircee.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2006-10-09 10:32 pm
[9 October 06] [xxxHOLiC/CCS] The Moments Between
Title: The Moments Between
Day/Theme: 9th October / every day is the end of the world
Series: xxxHOLiC/CCS
Character/Pairing: Clow, Yuuko -->Clow/Yuuko
Rating: Pg? Pg-13? I hate rating stuff.
Disclaimer: CLAMP, blahblah.
Dedication: To Meg, for the themes.
Note: I'm not sure this IS a Holic/CCS crossover. Isn't Clow canon for Holic too? Oh, well. It's all CLAMP.
The Moments Between
"Yuuko-chan, you're looking lovely and gracious today."
She blocked him from entering the house by the simple expedient of draping herself in the doorway. "You know, Clow," she began and then stopped.
He smiled at her, guilelessly charming (or at least as guilelessly as he could fake) with his hat, quite literally, in his hands. "Yes?"
With an internal sigh she dropped her hands and went into the house, offering tacit permission for him to follow. "You are the stupidest man I've ever known," she told him over her shoulder.
"And you know so many men," he returned brightly.
"I could still have you thrown out you know," she told him, half-serious as she lead him to the parlor. She settled lazily on her fainting couch and struck a match to her opium pipe. She took a deep drag off of it before offering it out to him. "What do you want?" she asked, exhaling a smooth stream of smoke.
Clow let out a breath of smoke of his own and looked at her through the wispy tendrils of it. "Just a place to work."
"Oh, no!" She sat up as quickly as her kimono allowed; really, she couldn't wait for the blasted things to go out of fashion. "Absolutely not!"
Handing the pipe back to her, Clow smiled. "Come now, my girl, you have the space. I only need a little room and a little quiet."
"No," she refused again. "I've kept the twins!" she reminded him.
Clow gave her a genial smile. "Only because Keroberus kept trying to eat Soel. And you know you like having them about. When the time comes to seal them you'll be lonely." He frowned slightly. "Well, until you get in the next set of twins."
Yuuko held up one hand. "Stop right there," she told him. "Everything else aside—and there is so much of everything else to put aside—"
"There isn't that much."
"—what makes you think that I'd like to have your persnickety Moon Guardian feel he has cause for a grudge against me?" she finished, speaking over him. "And you have nothing I want in trade," she added as an afterthought.
"Of course I do," Clow said, stealing the pipe away and adding a little more haze to the air. "You just don't know him yet."
She rolled her eyes but let him have the study just off the treasure room.
---
She watched him work. She claimed it as part of her payment simply so that she wouldn't have to tell him that it was fascinating watching a master craftsman work.
"I see how it balances," she said one day, idly twirling the mostly-finished staff between her hands. "Obviously it balances between the sun and the moon, but why have you left it open?"
Clow looked up from the jewel he was setting into the carved headpiece. "One must never lack the ability to change, my dear," he said simply. He held out his hand for the staff and, when she offered it out, attached the head as she held it. "Give it a spin," he invited.
She did, her eyes slitting against the tickle of pleasure as it flew in her hands. "It is a lovely piece of work," she admitted, striking a pose with it. "Pink and cute, too. Who'd have thought it possible from you?"
"A great many people," Clow said, pushing his glasses up and smiling pleasantly. "Or they will, rather." He tapped the bird's beak. "A bit more discrete, I should think. She'll hardly be able to take it to school as is."
Yuuko turned the staff and looked into the bird's jeweled eyes. "Her? You've made this for somebody?"
"Rather," Clow said dryly, sketching a circle on his workbench. "I already have a staff of my own."
"A lovely, ornate, rather large affair," Yuuko said, laying the staff East-West across the circle as Clow went to his bookshelf. "Compensating, I'm sure."
Clow grinned mildly at her, thumbing through several spellbooks. "Tut tut, dear girl," he scolded, "you're too forward. I might think you're angling for something. And it's boasting, I'll have you know."
Yuuko snorted delicately. She leaned against the books and traced the spines idly. "I'm rather tempted to keep some of your collection," she confessed. "Just for having to put up with you."
Selecting a very old and exceedingly rare grimoire, Clow nodded absently. "You may have them all. I shan't need them after this."
"Shall you not?" Yuuko frowned lightly at him.
Unnoticing, Clow nodded again. "The few my daughter will need will be available to her through other means."
"Daughter?" Yuuko straightened.
Clow noticed and looked at her. "Yes. My daughter. The one for whom this staff is intended." He nudged the staff with his finger. "She'll need it to use the cards and mine isn't quite what she'll need." He stared at her for a moment. "Something?" he asked at last.
"Who on earth let you connive your way into her bed?"
"Jealous?" he asked, amused.
"Frightened," she returned, tossing her hair over her shoulder and sauntering out of the room.
---
It was the magic that woke her. Soel and Larg had constantly stirred the eddies of the shop and she'd yet to grow used to the calm again now that they were sleeping. It took her a moment to place the disturbance.
"Clow?" she didn't bother to tie her robe as she slipped down the hall. She found him in the treasure room, clutching the book he'd made for the cards. "Clow?"
"You will keep it for me, won't you, Yuuko?" he asked hoarsely.
His shoulders, she now noticed, were trembling. "Of course," she answered easily, reaching for the book. She'd grown used to his strange moods over the course of their acquaintanceship but over the last few years, as he'd worked away in his room next door, she'd noticed them growing deeper and more frequent. In truth, she was beginning to be concerned for him. The scrying circles gave her nothing anymore.
"I've given you the others," Clow continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Payment enough for holding this one, don't you agree?"
"I've already agreed," she said, sliding the book from his hand. She glanced at the cover and nearly dropped it. "Clow—" she turned it over and covered her mouth to smother a gasp. "Reed, what have you done?" she asked, staring at the crescent moon before turning it again to stare at the gold lion asleep on the cover.
Clow looked at her, his eyes a dark void behind the lenses of his glasses. "I cannot live like this any longer," he said precisely, the evenness of his tone doing nothing to hide the desperate misery there. "You'll keep them here?"
"Yes." She put the book with its slumbering powers on the shelf with the others that Clow had given her. She could feel the inevitability of it already. The end of one fate, the beginnings of another slotted together and falling, tumblers in a lock.
He smiled at her, a faint echo of every smile he'd ever given her. "It's time I go then," he said. He grasped her hand and lifted it, bowing over it to place a kiss against the back of it.
She turned her hand in his and slid her palm along the firm line of his jaw, bringing his head up so that she could press her mouth to his. "There's time yet," she whispered. "Time enough."
"My dear Yuuko," the sound he made as he swept her into his arms was half laugh, half longing. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, letting him carry her to his empty workbench.
"Put it out of your mind," she said softly. She let his hair loose from the tie that held it back, burying her fingers in it as he pushed her robe of her shoulders, kissing her neck frantically. She closed her eyes and pressed her temple to his, arching her body against him. She could live with the bitter if the sweetness was the price. She could buy him these few minutes of peace. "There's time enough still."
Day/Theme: 9th October / every day is the end of the world
Series: xxxHOLiC/CCS
Character/Pairing: Clow, Yuuko -->Clow/Yuuko
Rating: Pg? Pg-13? I hate rating stuff.
Disclaimer: CLAMP, blahblah.
Dedication: To Meg, for the themes.
Note: I'm not sure this IS a Holic/CCS crossover. Isn't Clow canon for Holic too? Oh, well. It's all CLAMP.
The Moments Between
"Yuuko-chan, you're looking lovely and gracious today."
She blocked him from entering the house by the simple expedient of draping herself in the doorway. "You know, Clow," she began and then stopped.
He smiled at her, guilelessly charming (or at least as guilelessly as he could fake) with his hat, quite literally, in his hands. "Yes?"
With an internal sigh she dropped her hands and went into the house, offering tacit permission for him to follow. "You are the stupidest man I've ever known," she told him over her shoulder.
"And you know so many men," he returned brightly.
"I could still have you thrown out you know," she told him, half-serious as she lead him to the parlor. She settled lazily on her fainting couch and struck a match to her opium pipe. She took a deep drag off of it before offering it out to him. "What do you want?" she asked, exhaling a smooth stream of smoke.
Clow let out a breath of smoke of his own and looked at her through the wispy tendrils of it. "Just a place to work."
"Oh, no!" She sat up as quickly as her kimono allowed; really, she couldn't wait for the blasted things to go out of fashion. "Absolutely not!"
Handing the pipe back to her, Clow smiled. "Come now, my girl, you have the space. I only need a little room and a little quiet."
"No," she refused again. "I've kept the twins!" she reminded him.
Clow gave her a genial smile. "Only because Keroberus kept trying to eat Soel. And you know you like having them about. When the time comes to seal them you'll be lonely." He frowned slightly. "Well, until you get in the next set of twins."
Yuuko held up one hand. "Stop right there," she told him. "Everything else aside—and there is so much of everything else to put aside—"
"There isn't that much."
"—what makes you think that I'd like to have your persnickety Moon Guardian feel he has cause for a grudge against me?" she finished, speaking over him. "And you have nothing I want in trade," she added as an afterthought.
"Of course I do," Clow said, stealing the pipe away and adding a little more haze to the air. "You just don't know him yet."
She rolled her eyes but let him have the study just off the treasure room.
---
She watched him work. She claimed it as part of her payment simply so that she wouldn't have to tell him that it was fascinating watching a master craftsman work.
"I see how it balances," she said one day, idly twirling the mostly-finished staff between her hands. "Obviously it balances between the sun and the moon, but why have you left it open?"
Clow looked up from the jewel he was setting into the carved headpiece. "One must never lack the ability to change, my dear," he said simply. He held out his hand for the staff and, when she offered it out, attached the head as she held it. "Give it a spin," he invited.
She did, her eyes slitting against the tickle of pleasure as it flew in her hands. "It is a lovely piece of work," she admitted, striking a pose with it. "Pink and cute, too. Who'd have thought it possible from you?"
"A great many people," Clow said, pushing his glasses up and smiling pleasantly. "Or they will, rather." He tapped the bird's beak. "A bit more discrete, I should think. She'll hardly be able to take it to school as is."
Yuuko turned the staff and looked into the bird's jeweled eyes. "Her? You've made this for somebody?"
"Rather," Clow said dryly, sketching a circle on his workbench. "I already have a staff of my own."
"A lovely, ornate, rather large affair," Yuuko said, laying the staff East-West across the circle as Clow went to his bookshelf. "Compensating, I'm sure."
Clow grinned mildly at her, thumbing through several spellbooks. "Tut tut, dear girl," he scolded, "you're too forward. I might think you're angling for something. And it's boasting, I'll have you know."
Yuuko snorted delicately. She leaned against the books and traced the spines idly. "I'm rather tempted to keep some of your collection," she confessed. "Just for having to put up with you."
Selecting a very old and exceedingly rare grimoire, Clow nodded absently. "You may have them all. I shan't need them after this."
"Shall you not?" Yuuko frowned lightly at him.
Unnoticing, Clow nodded again. "The few my daughter will need will be available to her through other means."
"Daughter?" Yuuko straightened.
Clow noticed and looked at her. "Yes. My daughter. The one for whom this staff is intended." He nudged the staff with his finger. "She'll need it to use the cards and mine isn't quite what she'll need." He stared at her for a moment. "Something?" he asked at last.
"Who on earth let you connive your way into her bed?"
"Jealous?" he asked, amused.
"Frightened," she returned, tossing her hair over her shoulder and sauntering out of the room.
---
It was the magic that woke her. Soel and Larg had constantly stirred the eddies of the shop and she'd yet to grow used to the calm again now that they were sleeping. It took her a moment to place the disturbance.
"Clow?" she didn't bother to tie her robe as she slipped down the hall. She found him in the treasure room, clutching the book he'd made for the cards. "Clow?"
"You will keep it for me, won't you, Yuuko?" he asked hoarsely.
His shoulders, she now noticed, were trembling. "Of course," she answered easily, reaching for the book. She'd grown used to his strange moods over the course of their acquaintanceship but over the last few years, as he'd worked away in his room next door, she'd noticed them growing deeper and more frequent. In truth, she was beginning to be concerned for him. The scrying circles gave her nothing anymore.
"I've given you the others," Clow continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Payment enough for holding this one, don't you agree?"
"I've already agreed," she said, sliding the book from his hand. She glanced at the cover and nearly dropped it. "Clow—" she turned it over and covered her mouth to smother a gasp. "Reed, what have you done?" she asked, staring at the crescent moon before turning it again to stare at the gold lion asleep on the cover.
Clow looked at her, his eyes a dark void behind the lenses of his glasses. "I cannot live like this any longer," he said precisely, the evenness of his tone doing nothing to hide the desperate misery there. "You'll keep them here?"
"Yes." She put the book with its slumbering powers on the shelf with the others that Clow had given her. She could feel the inevitability of it already. The end of one fate, the beginnings of another slotted together and falling, tumblers in a lock.
He smiled at her, a faint echo of every smile he'd ever given her. "It's time I go then," he said. He grasped her hand and lifted it, bowing over it to place a kiss against the back of it.
She turned her hand in his and slid her palm along the firm line of his jaw, bringing his head up so that she could press her mouth to his. "There's time yet," she whispered. "Time enough."
"My dear Yuuko," the sound he made as he swept her into his arms was half laugh, half longing. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, letting him carry her to his empty workbench.
"Put it out of your mind," she said softly. She let his hair loose from the tie that held it back, burying her fingers in it as he pushed her robe of her shoulders, kissing her neck frantically. She closed her eyes and pressed her temple to his, arching her body against him. She could live with the bitter if the sweetness was the price. She could buy him these few minutes of peace. "There's time enough still."