tampered | log; complete

When; March 30th, evening
Rating; PG
Characters; Clow Reed,

i_themagician; Yuuko Ichihara,

wishyuumay
Summary; Clow visits Yuuko for seemingly no reason other than to cook for her, and they share a meal filled with obsessive-compulsive idiosyncracies and what for them passes as romantic conversation.
Log;

There were stacks of every kind of infinitely breakable items scattered around her courtyard: cups, wineglasses, delicate blown-glass butterflies, sake dishes, Ming vases... most of the piles had assorted rarities that were considered priceless. It was a collector's dream and nightmare all at the same time. And Yuuko sat on her front porch, overlooking it all with a cup of tea, and absently dangling a plate over a small stack of them... on their rims.

With a slight displacement of air, Clow appeared at her gate and took a moment to stare out at all of the improbable stacks of things. He was feeling much better now, having taken some of the medication that Dr. House had prescribed, and was here quite a bit earlier than he had told Yuuko he would be. Even so, he hadn't wanted to tempt his compulsion to count everything, so he had decided not to walk. He furrows his brow a bit at seeing the state of her courtyard, a bit concerned. He didn't know it was THIS bad. "Yuuko..."

Yuuko tilted her head languidly to look at her visitor; not that she didn't know who it was without looking, but well, she had a feeling his expression would more than make up the effort. She was right and she placed the plate she held down with a decided clink. The pile swayed dangerously, but didn't fall over. Smiling satisfactorily, she reached for another one by her side. "Clow," she acknowledged, smile curling just a little wider.

"I suppose you're having fun?" he inquired facetiously as he made his way over to the nearest stack (forgetting to count the steps - an improvement!) and began very carefully taking things off of it and stacking them more stably in his arms. Once his arms were full he headed towards the shop with the intention of putting them away.

She watched him step carefully over to the closest pile of shatterable goods and gingerly begin to gather them into his arms. Her red-gold eyes took a quick account of the other such stacks scattered haphazardly around the yard (even though she knew where every one was; she'd put them there after all) and indulged in a moment's wish for Larg or Soel to be here so she could make a bet with them as to how long the magician would last before he tripped. For fun, of course; she knew just as well that he wouldn't trip, but one could hope, right? "I am~ Although I'll run out of things to stack soon," she replied, not at all discouraged as she placed another expensive china plate onto her current stack.

"I wonder what you'll do, then~?" he asked, his lips curling into a smile as he headed into the shop to put away his current armload. He is gone only momentarily, however, as he seems to remember where a lot of it belongs. Then, he returns to collect more of the priceless stacked objects.

"Restack the ones you're taking apart, I imagine," she answers lazily, finishing the stack of plates and magicking them over to a far corner of the garden. She wished that Maru and Moro were here to help her, but what can you do? Such is the nature of things, she thought, and whisked the armful Clow had just returned with to her side to start over again.

"Oh no you don't!" Clow narrowed his eyes at the newly-appearing stack of breakables, although there wasn't much he could do to stop her from doing what she wanted to in her own shop. "I think you've stacked enough things for one day," he says as he bends to collect as much of that pile as he could (again). "When were you planning on putting all these things away?"

"Come midnight," she replied, batting away his hands. "It's a curse, Clow; I can't help stacking just as you can't help cleaning until you rub through the floor... which you will not do in my shop." That wasn't the whole truth; if the curse had its grip on her today, it was at least in part because Yuuko allowed it, but she had learned that you don't waste energy combatting all the harmless things so that you could avoid the deadlier ones. So she stacked priceless 14th -century pottery and hummed an old song to herself as she marked Clow's magical signature beside her.

"Well, at the very least you could--" he sighed, as there was really nothing he could ask her to do. So, he changed the subject. "You're no doubt going to ask me to make dinner and I'll need some plates for that. And what are you doing there?" he cocked his head to look at the sigil she was drawing.

Yuuko laughed at his exasperated sigh; all things considered, today was turning out to be a pretty good day. "If you're offering to make dinner, then I suppose I can spare a few plates," she conceded after pretending to think about it for a minute. "Testing my memory," she told him, index finger tracing fleetingly over the familiar circle before it disappeared with the cloud of smoke she blew out.

"Hm~." He was reminded of when they used to work together, and he idly wondered if he could still draw her sigil that accurately. "I'm not necessarily offering, but I am entirely sure that you're going to ask if I don't."

"Then you should offer and be a gentleman about it, ne~?" Now Yuuko did tilt her head back ever so slightly to glance at him, the beginnings of a grin playing on her lips.

He smiled back, her consciously passive-aggressive manner winning his heart yet again. "In that case, what would the lovely lady like~?"

"Taichazuke with fin sake~!" she said with a grin, and it was almost as genuine as the ones she used to give him so many years ago. "And flattery won't win you any points." Resuming her humming, she planted a blue-green glass butterfly on top of a fiery red one and watched as it stretched its wings once before going still; she remembers the job she did for them and was still as happy with the price she received as back then.

"That was honesty, Yuuko, not flattery." It was addicting - she was so restrained and teasing with her smiles that he found himself wanting more of them. And sometimes it lead him to do sily things like this: he would need certain dishes and things, many of which were underneath other things in stacks. So, he went about the yard, unstacking things only enough to get what he needed, but then making his own stack from what he didn't need. This stack was then magic'd onto Yuuko's head. "Ah~, you're right. There is a certain satisfaction to this!"

She caught the items before they made impact and cushioned them softly onto the porch beside her. "Tsk, if you break it, you'll have to pay for it, Clow," she informed him crisply, in mock-business mode. "Standard business policy."

"If they were on your head, it wouldn't have been I who was breaking them~," he said as he headed inside and towards the kitchen.

"Actions and reactions, Clow; Newton was right about that, you know," she retorted lightly after him. "You can't shirk your responsibilities here." She magick'd the newest butterfly stack to stand serenely by the stairs and got to work repairing the stacks he'd just disturbed.

"If you had held still, that stack wouldn't have fallen," he replied, opening a window in the kitchen so that they could still converse. "By my logic, it would be your fault. Then again, I suppose that's what makes you a businesswoman and me a..." pause. "Hm, chef now, I suppose."

"My shop, my logic," she smirked. Out of things to tinker with now, the witch got up languidly, stretching briefly and went to retrieve a small pile of Mokona-shaped chess pieces. She could have used magic, but ... well, magic should be conserved and she did have ulterior motives for choosing to walk; never let it be said that Yuuko wouldn't wreak havoc on a catwalk.

Clow was ostensibly paying attention to what he was cooking, although he could not help but glance up once or twice at her. How he loved watching her move, as perfect and delicate as her mannerisms often were - a lovely contrast to her personality, he thought. "If you're going to show off, Yuuko, why don't you wait until I can fully appreciate it?" She might not have been showing off any more than usual, but it was his opinion that she was usually showing off a lot.

Clow was so lucky Yuuko can't read thoughts; her personality was just fine, thank you. (Not like yours, you arrogant glasses-freak.) "Not all of us feel the need to perpetually flaunt our powers," she replied, though it should be noted that she didn't deny showing off right now. Having retrieved what she was looking for, Yuuko walked--slowly-- back to her seat and settled down with deliberate care before beginning on her task again. (Although, admittedly, she was beginning to get the tinest bored.)

"Must it be a choice between your powers and your body, though?" Clow smiled and wondered when and if he would manage to cross the line that would cause Yuuko to call him on being a pervert. "It seems that neither of us were blessed with modesty."

She studiously ignored his first comment, knowing that he said it to get a reaction from her and unwilling to give him the satisfaction for now. Except... "Now now, I have children in the house," she reminded him. "My level of modesty is the length and breadth of the Pacific Ocean compared to yours, Clow."

"My observations dictate the opposite to be true - there is a certain amount of humility contained in the ability to admit to your arrogance, and that is something I have that you apparently don't."

"Again, only in your special brand of logic would that make sense," she replied, having moved from stacking the Mokonas to playing a game with herself on an imaginary chessboard.

"The fact that you don't stop to consider that it might actually be your logic that's so 'special' only proves my point." And yet, somehow she wouldn't be as endearing if she had his brand of 'humility'. "Dinner is almost ready. I hope you don't mind that I made some for myself, as well - I didn't find time to eat today."

"Now you're just grasping," she told him, although there was a touch of fondness mixed in the mock-irritation. And it helped that he had the power to back up his arrogance, she thought, though she'd never vocalize it under pain of ... well, things far worse than death. "Well, since you made me dinner..." The rest of her consent was left unsaid, but who needed complete sentences to convey messages anyway right? "It's a nice day and the sakura is finally blooming; I think we should eat outside."

"I agree." After a few more moments of tinkering around in the kitchen, he kneels beside her on the porch to serve her dinner before he serves himself. If she complains that sharing a bottle of sake (or two or... let's hope it's an even number) with her was not part of the deal, he figures that it is a debt that he will gladly and quite easily repay. Speaking of which, he inquires affectionately, "Was this dinner to be part of my debt that you mentioned a few days ago, or may I enjoy the knowledge that I did it simply because I enjoy cooking for you?" Not that he wouldn't also like some sort of excuse to do it on a regular basis.

Yuuko's feeling gracious enough from the warmth of the early evening and the smell of the food to overlook the sake; besides, she couldn't in very good conscious withhold liquor from a meal. Twirling her chopsticks, she ponders his question, weighing the options she has before shaking her head no. "Nah, that'd be too easy, ne~? Besides, I have a cook; he's just temporarily absent at the moment. You should know that." Leaning back against a pillar, she took the bite and sighed happily; for all that she complained, his cooking was the one thing she could find no faults whatsoever with.

It was probably a good thing that Clow could not read minds, for Yuuko's thoughts about his cooking would only have inflated his ego even more. Although, despite his pride in his magic, he had a tendency to be a bit more quiet and modest about his more mundane abilities, perhaps because they were things that he did sheerly for the joy of doing them. "Mm," he intoned in acknowledgement, "I wonder what you'll have me do, then?"

She tapped her chopsticks against her lips, feigning thought. "Hmmn~ I wonder? I'll let you know when I've decided~"

He chuckled. "Please do~." At that, he fell into a thoughtful silence, looking at the sakura and the stacks of rare objects strewn across the yard. "I have to admit that they're beautiful."

As usual, he was cryptic even in such simple statements; Yuuko wasn't sure whether he meant the sakura, her stores, or both (probably both, knowing him). "Mmn, you're not the only one who appreciates beauty," she smiled as she surveyed the years worth of collections. Not all of them by any means, but a good enough sample.

"Obviously not, if your apparent popularity is any indication." All of those other men had not escaped his notice, but whether or not he was jealous was harder to tell. "You possess a lot more than mere beauty, but it comes as no surprise that so many are attracted by such a heavy concentration of it." This is an overly-complicated way of complimenting her. Hopefully it comes across as the flirting that it is.

She paused with the chopsticks still poised near her mouth, swallowed her mouthful, and turned to give him a look. It was assessing, almost curious, but very carefully neutral at the same time; she was good at it, even if she didn't use it often. "Hmmn~ is that so." She turned away, apparently back to concentrating on the food. "Greed-kun told me about your conversation." Yuuko wasn't sure if she really wanted to talk about that yet, but there it was; out there and there was no taking words back now.

Clow really wasn't sure if he wanted to, either. Hence, all he said at first was, "Ah," before he fell silent again and concentrated on his food for a bit. However, he just couldn't let things remain so uncertain, could he? "I don't know what he told you, but he may have been reading into it a bit."

She laughed softly at that. "I see; of course." Yuuko wasn't really sure what she'd expected; they'd had over a century before... what did she expect in a few days? "Mmn, so I'm apparently popular, am I? I like to think it's because of a little more than just my pretty face," she continued, backtracking the conversation to relatively calm waters.

To Clow it was yet another missed opportunity, nearly identical to the hundreds of others they had had since they had known each other. If asked, he could not have explained why he had let them all pass him by, but it hurt him to do so. At that moment, he felt the full weight of all those missed opportunities bearing down on him, and he did a poor job of hiding it. Giving into it a little he said instead, "I can't speak for any of them, of course, but your appearance is the least of what attracts me to you."

The air pressure dropped several point below "comfortable" with his ... confession? Statement? Suddenly, Yuuko was the one who wanted to pull away, to go back to their familiar routine of colleagues and friends, despite her strong words a few days ago. There was a long silence before she forced herself to say something. "Ara~ is that so?" She congratulated herself on sounding as steady as she did.

"Yes," he replied, almost in a whisper. There he was, back at these one-word responses he kept giving because he was so afraid of venturing out of his hiding place between the ambiguities of his words and the possibilities of what is left unsaid. Having a feeling that she might reply, he holds up a finger. "Elaboration is what molds the intricate details of reality, leaving less to the imagination. Sometimes it is an improvement, but other times it's a wise sculptor who knows when to leave certain things out."

Yuuko didn't reply for a while as she sat sipping her sake and gazing out into the courtyard and what she could see of the Gardens beyond it. "Reality and imagination are two distinctly different things," she finally said, still studiously not looking at the man beside her. "They don't translate well into each other." For all that she called him cryptic, she could be just as bad if she chose to and right now, she was choosing to very hard. Perhaps it was unfair and a little selfish, but when it was time to leave, he would simply disappear again, but she would have to go back to her life. Again.

Clow sipped at his sake in silence for a few moments, trying to think of the perfect words to say. There was no rebuttal to her words, of course, only a decision to be made. "Of course. Reality should override imagination in all cases, even if it is imagination that helps shape reality." He turns his head just slightly, casually, to look at her and shifts gears from their subtle and prose-like conversation so far to a somewhat more to-the-point one. "I do a particularly poor job of hiding how I feel about you, Yuuko. I thought you always knew..." he couldn't quite bring himself to finish the sentence.

She would have smiled at his stumbling if it were about another subject; it was such a rare occurrence after all. Right now though, Yuuko wished that he would summon some of that fathomless arrogance they were bantering about earlier (though she supposed she was a little flattered that he was as uncertain as he was). Enough was enough though, and the Witch made her decision. "Clow Reed," she said firmly, voice brooking no arguments. "I don't remember you being quite so tongue-tied." She glanced at him sideways, red eyes glinting and her voice was softer when she spoke next. "What are you afraid of?"

He couldn't help but quirk a smile at her harsh words, although his expression became more peaceful at her sudden change of tone. "I'm afraid that you'll say something cruel, as you are sometimes wont to do," his tone became slightly softer and completely bereft of its usual confidence as he finished, "if I were to confess that I love you."

She waited patiently for him to finish and when he did, for a few long seconds, her face remained blank as if she was wrangling with a decision. And then, a smile begins to unfurl-- a real smile, even if it started small and looks like it's about to curl into a smirk any minute. But she still says nothing and doesn't look at him... it's almost like she's filing the moment away, a second at a time. "Hmmn~ oh really? It took you an awful lot of time to say it then. So~ what now?" she asked lightly, turning the full weight of her smile to him.

"Well... what about you?" Clow honestly hadn't been expecting this sort of a reaction. It was both better and worse than anything he could have imagined. "Don't you have any feelings one way or the other?"

Well, she would be glad that she's keeping him on his toes; wouldn't want him to get bored after all. "Isn't that the courting gentleman's job to find out?" she quipped. Really, she could see that he was confused, but she wasn't anymore and she felt generous enough to flash him a lightning grin. Now that she wasn't confused anymore, however, Yuuko was feeling playful and really it couldn't be THAT easy for him, now could it?

He narrowed his eyes at her in mock-annoyance. What his expression actually meant was, 'why would you do this to me?!' but he answered that question himself, "You're only lady-like when it suits you, Yuuko. This is punishment for having waited until now to tell you, isn't it?" his expression softened a bit, though, and he smiled. Even if it was punishment, and even if it was partially because she wanted him to spoil her with flowers and wine and chocolate, she was the one who implied that he was courting her now, and that was at least something. Something worth opening his heart to her for, perhaps.

His expression and remark slid off her easily. "Tsk, how long have you know me for now, Clow?" Implicit was the question, 'you didn't actually think I was going to be that easy, did you?'

"No, I didn't. That was part of the problem." Yet, he's truly happy in this moment, and offers to refill her sake cup before pouring himself some more. "But that's also part of what endears me to you."

Leave to him to answer her silent query instead of the actual one she'd asked. Of course, that was part of what endeared him to her... not that she was planning to let him anytime soon. His ego was big enough as it was. There was no need to respond to what he'd just said, so Yuuko just accepted the refill and leaned back against her pillar, a small happy sigh fluttering from her lips.

log; complete

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